The October Index issue featured a piece previewing lower school art teacher Mr. Antonio Fink’s upcoming art show in Mexico.
The show, known as BADA, lasted from February 6-9 and featured 100 artists, 96 of whom were drawn from an applicant pool of about 3000 people. The organizers of the event personally invited the other four artists to participate. One of those four people happened to be our very own Mr. Fink.
At the time of the last article, Mr. Fink had yet to decide what art pieces he wanted to submit.
“They were asking me to bring ceramics,” Mr. Fink said, “but I thought it would be a bit foolish to create the boxes and the crates and ship them, with all the risks included.”
Mr. Fink’s solution to this dilemma was a series of prints.
“I made all these block prints and silkscreen prints, which I’m really quite happy with,” Mr. Fink said.
The absence of fragile ceramics made the journey to Mexico City far less stressful. “I didn’t stress at all,” Mr. Fink said. “I just hoped for the best.”
Transporting several large boxes of prints still presented logistical challenges.
“I sent a shipment ahead of me to Miami and a friend picked it up there and brought it to Mexico City,” Mr. Fink said. “I took another shipment with me as my checked bag on the plane.”
The journey tested Mr. Fink’s easy-going disposition when he missed his connecting flight in Dallas. He hopped on the first plane to Mexico the next day.“When I got there on Wednesday,” Mr. Fink said, “I got there just in time to install. I went straight from the airport to the art site and stayed there until really late at night setting up.”
The BADA show was housed in an unusual setting.
“It was this huge, huge tent which hosted a hundred little cubicles where artists could set up their work. I was very careful to not overpopulate my walls so I just had two prints on each of the short walls and five on the longer back wall,” Mr. Fink said.
“It was very gratifying to sell all the stuff that I took.”
Mr. Antonio Fink
“I had nine prints hanging and every one of them sold, and I took printed copies of every sample I took, it was very gratifying to sell all the stuff that I took,” Mr. Fink said. “I would say it was pretty successful.”
“It was an incredible week in Mexico because it was the Mexico City art week where four very big shows happen in one week and they all advertise together so people came from all over to go to all four,” Mr. Fink said.
Mr. Fink said there was a second reason for the show’s success.
“Rafael Cauduro was there, he’s the most exciting, famous, and recognized guy there and he made an appearance. He’s not in the prime of his life so that brought a lot of people in,” Mr. Fink said. “To have shown in the same space as him is a really positive thing.”
The show displayed an incredible variety of artists. “There was a photographer that was unbelievable,” Mr. Fink said, “and there was a painter who was painting these humongous heads. It was very fresh, very uplifting to see. I also saw video installations that were completely off the grid and had a completely different approach to sales.”
Mr. Fink understands that his success at the show was not limited to sales.
“I think I am going back spring break,” he said, “because three galleries have contacted me since the show, one in Lisbon, Portugal, one in New York, and one in Mexico City, so I think I am going back to consolidate a deal with the Mexican gallery.”
Mr. Fink’s enthusiasm for this event showed itself in his plan for next year.
“I think I am going to do it again next year, but instead I will go to Mexico in the summer and make ceramic pieces in Mexico and then I will sell them when the show comes around.”
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