I had just opened Instagram (@arsethumanitas) when a video by Johann König (@johann.koenig) of König Galerie (@koeniggalerie) caught my eye.

In the video, König walks through the current solo exhibition by artist Franz Stein (@stranzfein) while talking about the artist’s background and the exhibited works.

It took only one painting for me to think, „Wait, what is this?!“ Sometimes you have those rare moments where you need to pause and ask yourself what you just saw.

To cut to the chase: my initial skepticism turned into admiration. But how did I change my mind?

My first unfiltered impression was, „Is this art? I could have done that“. Yes, we have all been there. I still feel guilty while I’m writing this. But it taught me a first lesson: what you see is just what you see. And your brain gives you explanations for what you dont understand.

So I visited the Instagram page of König Galerie and watched the video of Franz giving the necessary context. He explains that he reduces the number of brushstrokes to such an extent that it gives the impression that anyone could do it.

I felt like I had fallen right into his trap.

I went to the König Galerie website and read more about the work. It taught me a second lesson: when you see a painting, you see the result. What you don’t see is the process. Franz’s work includes so many steps that you could never tell just by looking at an image of a painting.

The most important aspect that made me an admirer of his work was when he said that the more he reduces, the more difficult it gets for him. Imagine how difficult it must be for him to resist the urge to add one more brushstroke.

The solo exhibition „FEELS LIKE SPRING“ by FRANZ STEIN can be visited until March 22, 2026 at KÖNIG GALERIE (ST. AGNES), BERLIN.

To get to know the artist, I recommend the podcast „WAS MIT KUNST“ featuring him.

I visited the exhibition myself on Tuesday, March 9, 2026