From Marbella to Miami with FJ BAUR

If you know the art world you will know Katz is switching it up showing artists of all levels of notoriety and helping to promote their work and push it out globally. Katz was the world’s youngest Salvador Dali dealer at 30 years old and has access to over 70 artists including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Takahi Murakami and Jeff Koons. Over 60 artists and creatives from around the world were invited to exhibit at The Art Plug; a mixing pot of mediums, styles and cultures. Guests were invited to ignite their senses and delve into year two of the event. In addition to the showcase of artists, an art charity auction took place and live extreme sports performances from Red Bull athletes as well as a series of artist led panels and talks and a live performance by Atlantic Records. In addition, Katz held a panel discussion about the impact of social media on the art work and how these platforms help to discover and consume. With over one million followers and counting, and the network within his agency at ten million plus, this man knows what he is talking about.  

SOCIETY MARBELLA managed to pin down the talented FJ Baur to learn a little more about the man behind the art and what he loves about Marbella.  

SOCIETY MARBELLA: Tell us a little bit about your background. When and how did you fall in love with art?

FJ Baur: I am a small-town guy, I grew up in the south of Germany. I wanted to escape, so I started to move around and travelled a lot. Now I call Berlin, Vienna and Marbella my home.

Berlin has changed a lot over the last few years, when I first visited over 10 years ago I loved the way everything felt easy and creative - no boundaries, no money, no worries. Today I go once a month to see friends and relatives but not for work. Vienna took over from Berlin when I visited it for the first time, it is much smaller, but free in a very special way and so traditional – I love it.

Marbella is the place I have spent most of my time over the last 2 years, it is a very unique location. This is home, where my garage means everything to me – the place to channel my creativity and where most of my Art Plug pieces were created. 

Art means everything to me. A friend once said to me ‘There is no way back to a 9 to 5 job.’

Today, I totally agree, I am a lifetime artist.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: What materials do you prefer to work with? How do you select your materials? 

FJ Baur: As an artist, I live in decades. The last two years, I have loved to play and work with fabrics. Fabric is so intense and is a part of our lives from the beginning to the end - romper to the death shirt. We all know this material, and nothing layers or comes closer to our body. So, everyone understands what it feels like. Most of the fabrics I use are vintage or knitted by myself. It reminds me of my childhood as my grandmother taught me to knit. 

I love the idea of keeping things alive and letting them have another circle of life, again and again. 

SOCIETY MARBELLA: Who or what are your main inspirations? Artistic and philosophically…  Who are your favourite artists?

FJ Baur: Life! We are influenced every day by our encounters and experiences. This is reflected in my work. I perceive many emotions every day. I pick up things like a sponge. In my work, I try to process everything. At the end of the day, I want to be like a piece of white paper again. Off for new. There are some artists that move me a lot. Robert Mapplethopre for the shapes in his photography and Jeff Koons for his simple yet ingenious works of art.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: How has your practice changed over time?

FJ Baur: Time is the element that changes everything, and good things need time.

Today, I am my confidant, I do not question my work.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: Tell us about your creative process. Which part do you enjoy the most? Which one could you do without?

FJ Baur: Creativity is more of a feeling, comparable to a dream. Once you have an idea or a vision no one can stop you and everything around you disappears.

What I like most, is to listen to bad music (as my friends say) in isolation, to channel the workflow, but of course I love to work in teams.

Together with my dear friend Thomas Kirchgrabner, (an Austrian fashion designer), we created a masterpiece, a dress covered with hundreds of little details, inspired from my cloud series from 2017/2018 and did a cover page shoot, for the most important fashion magazine in Austria.

A no-go and creativity killer for me are breaks – luckily, I am able to concentrate hour after hour.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: How would you define your style?

FJ Baur: The style is very much Pop art. I love to work between genres; art & design and fashion.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: Which colours are you feeling for 2020?

FJ Baur: My artworks have a very simple colour scheme, more is more – same with my style of clothing. I personally love pink.

I am still feeling a Marbella summer vibe but I would say that the beach and the city provide me with different colour schemes. Marbella, for me is super colourful – pink, yellow, green.

Vienna, for me is kind of urban, white and black. 

SOCIETY MARBELLA: What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

FJ Baur: As I grew up in a very traditional small town, my parents wanted me to get a “proper” job, so I trained to become a chef. This is funny as everyone who knows me, knows my cooking is very, very – let´s say, SIMPLE. In the same company I did my chef training, I later worked as an Event Planner – those years gifted me with a lot of discipline and power. This is very helpful today, as most of my artist friends are very chaotic and lost from time to time.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: What’s your dream project?

FJ Baur: Working together with Björk, on any kind of project. He is my all over muse.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: To date, what do you feel has been the greatest point or achievement in your career?

FJ Baur: Every project feels like a new challenge but having the ability to decide freely what to do or work on, is for myself, my main achievement.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: Are you planning on exhibiting something in Marbella in the near future?

FJ Baur: I am returning to Marbella in February. Coming home, to the “garage” with a load of plans for 2020, an exhibition in Summer 2020 is one – in a special setting – and a big bang opening. 

SOCIETY MARBELLA: What made you fall in love to Marbella and decide to move here? and has that changed?

FJ Baur: The reason you fall in love with a place, are friends. Childhood friends showed me their hideaway haven up in the hills of Istan. For me it needed a second visit to fall deeply in love.

And what I love most about Marbella is meeting new people every day, no matter what nationality or cultural background. The amazing Andalusian culture mixed up with so many different sub-cultures makes Marbella a very special place with its own energy and great history.

Home is, where the heart is.

SOCIETY MARBELLA: So, where would we find you if we wanted to get a drink and chat art with you? :)

FJ Baur: I have a handful of go-to places, but I love Breathe, Monkey Club and the Marbella Beach Club. As I am not good at cooking, you´ll see me at one of these places at least once a day. 

SOCIETY MARBELLA:  Finally, which art piece are you most proud of? and why?

FJ Baur: As an artist I don’t need to feel proud of anything.

As a businessman I am very proud that I was invited by Marcel Katz to show my works at The Art Plug.