There’s a fine line between collector and hoarder… perhaps there isn’t one at all, a horder may simply be someone who collects useless crap, a collector one whose collection is structured, and usually coming at some considerable cost. 39 year-old Düsseldorfer (with Turkish roots) Selim Varol fits firmly into the latter category, this is not a crazy old man with penchant for newspapers and cereal boxes.
With some 15,000 plastic and vinyl figurines, Varol has one of the largest contemporary toy collections in the world, there’s not a limited edition art collab this boy hasn’t got his hands on! But an obsessed hoarder, I mean collector, can’t stop there… oh no. Staying firmly on hipster blogosphere trend, Varol is an avid art collector too; art with roots in street art and popular culture.
His collection is bursting at the seams with work from “embarrassed” Obama artist Shepard Fairey, whilst equally-hip New Yorker KAWS is heavily represented too. Banksy, D*Face, Nigo, Futura and Jamie Hewlett also pop-up. Varol’s collection is basically a living embodiment of a cap-wearing, Tokyo-teenager’s über-cool Hypebeast-inspired design blog, and it’s overwhelming in its breadth.
Oh, and why are we telling you all this? The aptly named Me Collectors Room Berlin has played host to much of this inspired collection for the past few months, and this weekend (Sunday 16th September, to be precise) is your last chance to catch it. So, if you’re in town, make sure you do. It’s mightily impressive.
