A golf painting at an art fair. When it was announced that the HELLIGKEIT Gallery would be exhibiting *THE FINAL PUT* at ARTMUC in Munich, I was thrilled. And then I started to have my doubts.
Golf doesn’t have an easy time in the art world. Many people think of clubhouses, plaid pants, and trophies for the mantelpiece—and I can’t blame anyone for that. My concern was that my painting would be too much golf for art people and too much art for golfers. Amid paintings, sculptures, and photographs from various countries, there’s suddenly a golf ball hanging on the wall. That could go wrong.
It didn’t go wrong. From October 23 to 25, over 10,000 visitors came to the MTC, and a surprising number of them stopped at booth H1.07.
THE FINAL PUT measures 150 × 150 centimeters. A golf ball with a diameter of 40 centimeters bulges out from the canvas, just below the hole. In the upper left corner is the caption explaining what it’s all about: Two meters. One shot. Everything. Anyone who’s ever faced a two-meter putt with an entire match riding on it needs no explanation. What surprised me was how quickly even people without a golf handicap knew what was meant. Everyone has experienced a moment like that—just not necessarily on the green.
The image became a photo op—and pretty quickly, at that. People posed in front of it, pointed at the ball, and called friends over. At some point, I found myself standing in front of it and pointing at the title for the photographer, like a weatherman pointing at his map. I’m not really cut out for poses like that.
To be honest, at first it bothered me a bit that so many people were taking pictures. I’d worked on this image for a long time, and many were looking at it through their phone screens instead of with their own eyes. Then I realized what actually happens when you take a photo. If you want to get a picture of this size entirely in the frame, you have to take a few steps back. At 150 centimeters, that puts you at about two meters—exactly the distance the image is all about. Since then, it hasn’t bothered me anymore.
I was there in person and answered a lot of questions. Some people wanted to know if the ball was real. It’s 3D-printed and weighs 1.4 kilograms—that’s the short answer. The more intriguing question was what “MIND OF GOLF” actually means. The answer is at the bottom right of the picture: “Your body knows.” Your mind doubts. Your heart is racing. The body has long known how to make the putt. The mind doesn’t believe it. I’ve experienced this myself on plenty of greens, which is why I don’t paint the shot itself, but the moment right before it. If you’d like to read more about the story behind the painting, you can find it on the artwork page.
I shared the booth with other artists from the gallery. Right in front of my painting were two heads made of metal and found objects by Daniela Hellerforth. I thought they went well with it—two heads in which, quite obviously, a lot is going on.
I’d like to thank the HELLIGKEIT Gallery for the professional presentation. A painting of this size needs space, good lighting, and a wall where it can “breathe.” It got all of that, and for a first exhibition, that’s not something to be taken for granted. Thanks also to everyone who stopped by, asked questions, and laughed.
At the very bottom of the picture, underlined in red, it says: “Do it.” Before the fair, I was more in tune with the line above it: “Your mind doubts.” I did it anyway. Next time, I want more than one picture from the series hanging on the wall.
