stocubo | 44flavours in the stocubo showroom

in zu Besuch bei, Apr 23

For Gallery Weekend Berlin, the stocubo Showroom in Berlin-Mitte hosts an exhibition by 44flavours – featuring paintings, ceramics, and objects that embody what the duo has stood for over twenty years.

Sebastian Bagge and Julio Rölle met during their studies – their first joint project followed in 2003: a magazine called 44flavours. Since then, they have been a well-rehearsed duo.

Their practice ranges from painting to installation and sculpture: they work on canvas, paper, and wood, as well as with handmade ceramics, objects, and large-scale works in public spaces. Each material serves as a starting point, and each work is a response to the previous one.

During a visit to their studio, we were able to discover their latest works and talk to them about their art, their working process and the stories behind the works.

You've been a duo since 2003 – which of you actually persuaded whom back then?

Julio:

It was a very natural coming together during our studies. We complemented each other well, our first project was a magazine, a publication that brought together different media. Then there were exhibitions, parties, friends with music. At some point, we moved on from Cologne to Berlin.

Does the name 44flavours have a history?

Sebastian:

I was watching a Disney movie in which an ice cream vendor appeared – his truck said "44flavors". I made a note of the name and it just fitted. Years later, we photographed the ice cream trucks in New York and turned them into an illustration. We just kept the name.

What does your work process look like?

Julio:

It's like ping pong – one does something, the other reacts to it. I come from a painting background, Sebastian from graphics and typography. We work with what we call an "Alphabet of Form" – a visual language that runs through all our images. We discuss these forms together, combine and recombine them.

The arch, for example (which is also a starting point for this exhibition), keeps reappearing – it can be a bridge, or a window, a passage or a threshold. It's like a word or a sign that we both know how to use and communicate with. When I look back at older works, I immediately understand what the other meant – and from there I might create a sculpture, or rethink the form entirely and build something new from it.

"We work with what we call an "Alphabet of Form" – a visual language that runs through all our images. We discuss these forms together, combine and recombine them."

What's the strangest thing you've ever painted on?

Sebastian:

The boat was very special – an old transport boat from Hamburg without its own engine, constantly on the move. And a floating festival stage in the Wadden Sea, because music is a great source of inspiration for us.

What would be your dream object that is still waiting to be transformed?

Julio:

A spaceship would be great - even if the person who builds it probably doesn't accept commissions. But a hot air balloon would also appeal to us: the materiality is totally exciting, the fabric has a beautiful drape, and when it comes together and the painting folds with it, something completely new is created again.

Photo: ©44flavours

Photo: ©44flavours

"What we leave behind are not finished objects, but open interventions – temporary windows into other spheres. Materials change, traces weather, and often what remains is not a work but the memory of a moment, an encounter, a process."

44flavours-reaparecendo-formas-2022-232-1080-10, sport helmet bike road motorcycle vehicle speed wheeled vehicle cycle motor scooter background-apricot_lighter

Photo: ©44flavours

Art has no fixed location for you. From Berlin to South America, from walls to boats: What does traveling mean for your work?

Julio:

Travelling is not just a change of place for us – it's a method. An extended studio without fixed walls. Leaving familiar surroundings sharpens our senses and intensifies encounters. Our work develops in direct dialogue with each location: compositions emerge on site, in response to architecture, history, and social energy. This action-reaction principle helps us uncover hidden potential. Exchange with people and other artists is central – it shapes our practice, which has always been collectively minded.

And what do you leave behind at the venues where you perform?

Julio:

What we leave behind are not finished objects, but open interventions – temporary windows into other spheres. Materials change, traces weather, and often what remains is not a work but the memory of a moment, an encounter, a process.
Our approach is one of openness: the work adapts to the place, not the other way around. Travelling also means responsibility – not consuming places, but meeting them with respect and leaving something behind that connects without overwhelming.

stocubo is modular, changeable, stackable – if you had to turn it into an art installation, what would it be?

Sebastian:

We could work on the surfaces and create changeable sculptures – the geometric system is very grateful for that. And the playful aspect has a parallel to our work: we plan precisely, but only decide a lot on site. It would also be exciting to use the cubes as plinths on different levels. To lift works into the space instead of presenting them flat.