“Golif – A Beginning, in: Golif 13-23, Drava Verlag, Klagenfurt 2024.
One day D. asked me a surprising question: What do I think about him becoming Golif?
D. wouldn’t disappear. He would still exist and continue to work on his projects, while this new figure, Golif, would expand his possibilities and build on his vast experience in graffiti and street art. Golif would have no qualms about being very productive. While D. at that time made a lot of prints in small editions, Golif would make original drawings in large numbers. I understood that this aspect was important. D. felt that Golif could be free in a way that he might not be. It was clear that he also hoped this would allow him to make money from his art. He’d had enough of working on construction sites to make ends meet. So what did I think?
I finally answered: No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.
I told him not to do it. I thought D. would lose his way dealing with multiple identities, and I was also suspicious of the commercial side of it. Creating an avatar as a way to do what you might not allow yourself to do for good reason? I didn’t think it would end well.
My words of caution fell on deaf ears.
Golif introduced himself to the world in 2013. Since then he has been very active, and I have watched his progress with fascination. I’ve seen Golif’s visual language (slowly) evolve over time, and I’ve realized that creating ever new images for his signature “character” is a true act of creativity. Repetition is a big part of Golif’s work, but these days I see that when he starts another series of faces or figures with the horizontal line over the eyes, he’s doing it because something in the process is truly meaningful to him.
Golif’s imagery is a form of calligraphy. Its roots lie in the bold strokes of an ink-laden brush on white paper, with no room for error. When no corrections can be made, the artist’s focus on the task at hand is crucial. By repeating the gesture endlessly, it becomes a muscle memory that is nonetheless combined with self-observation. I see Golif constantly experimenting with different formats and materials, always staying close to the core personality of his “character”. This will work as long as he can approach each new painting as if it were the most important thing he’s ever done.
A counterpart to the repetitive production of single pictures are the large-scale works in urban space. Their designs derive from Golif’s calligraphic practice, but here the painterly process is completely different, for obvious reasons. D.’s early experience of working onconstruction sites and from painting graffiti under time pressure at night has made him well equipped to create huge murals in full daylight. In 2016, he created an extraordinary and gigantic black and white ground painting in the parking lot next to the Marxhalle in Vienna. When I visited him at work on-site, D. told me Golif did all the painting work alone. Later he said Golif had covered hundreds of kilometres on foot for that one painting. This was no decorative idea carried out by anonymous contractors. The proud artist was doing it all himself, trusting only in the work of his own hands.
It’s the only painting I know for which I needed Google Earth to show people. As I write, eight years later, it is still there as a trace, under a circus.
Another aspect of Golif’s activities is his ability as a performer. In the early days, Golif presented himself as a mysterious figure, masked and secretive. Today he’s a little less mysterious, but no less charismatic. When he really wants something, he gets it. D. has become a master at playing the role that has come to dominate his life. At the same time, it provides him with all these creative challenges and opportunities that he’s constantly expanding. Golif’s fundamental integrity has been striking ever since he was first introduced to me, and I did my best to convince his creator not to make him a reality.
Today, when D., Golif and I meet, I’m more likely to encourage them to take more risks than to hold back. They have so much potential. This should just be the beginning.
Jan Svenungsson
2 May 2024