Corporations that want to inspire their employees have turned in recent years to an unlikely source: a graffiti artist.
Erik Wahl, who once worked in the corporate world himself as the owner of a brokerage firm, went from negotiating contracts to painting canvases after feeling burnt out and wanting to creatively recharge. Wahl wasn't a painter, but he was inspired to start creating works of art. That was about a decade ago.
These days, Wahl is on the lecture circuit, touring the country and speaking to businesses about applying creative, left-brain thinking to right-brain activities like inking deals and strategizing new plans for the future.
BILL HUGHES | LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS
Artist and consultant Erik Wahl makes a point March 7 during his "The Art of Vision" seminar at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America conference at Paris Las Vegas. He compares great artists creating classic pieces to businesses inventing important products.
"Entrepreneurs can use the same kind of thinking to create great opportunities," he said.
Wahl uses art to convey his message, and considers his talks more of a performance than a speech. Onstage, he cues music to match the time it takes to paint. He crafts portraits of famous people while performing; Elvis Presley, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Abraham Lincoln have appeared in his pieces.
Wahl speaks in Las Vegas about once a month, and most recently appeared at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America's convention March 7.
Question: As an artist with experience working in the corporate world, what do you tell businesses when you speak to them?
Answer: It's opening up the channel between right and left hemisphere. How do you create an emotional experience in the right hemisphere and transfer it over into the left logical side? Through our education, business, work, we separate the two. We have emotional fun, outside work experiences and the transactional experiences. Merge those together.
Question: How would you describe your art?
Answer: Graffiti art, performance art. All of my paintings are created in two to three minutes. If I'm painting John Lennon, I'll do it to the song "Imagine."
Question: What do business audiences take away from your performances?
Answer: They haven't seen an artist create something so quickly and passionately onstage and also be able to speak practically to their business. There (are) great business speakers and great artists, but there's no one (else) who can translate that and make it successful.
Question: How can people buy your works?
Answer: I don't sell any of my artwork on the commercial market. The only way to get it is through the live performances I do. I also hide them in various locations around the world. (I want to) engage the community. I want them to get out and look and find something they haven't seen before. (I want to) make it available to everyone.
Contact reporter Caitlin McGarry at cmcgarry@lvbusinesspress.com or 702-387-5273.
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