It started as a simple walk through a park filled with artists. It ended with a story I’ll never forget.
It was a Sunday afternoon in Mexico City. My partner and I wandered through a park square, taken over by artists of all ages, searching for something special to hang on our wall in Zürich — a piece of my home country.
Surrounded by a sea of colors, shapes, and talent, choosing felt impossible.
Then, as we turned a corner, a drawing caught my eye.
At his stand, stood a petite older man. Jeans, blue shirt, red handkerchief, glasses. The perfect image of an artist (at least for me).
Once we agreed to purchase the artwork, what followed surprised me.
Rather than a simple transaction, Enrique led us through what felt like a ceremony.
He asked us to name our artwork and complete a short form — which turned out to be a certificate of authenticity. He then signed, sealed, and stamped it with his personal artist logo.
As he carefully wrapped the piece, I asked if he had always been a street artist.
“No,” Enrique replied.
For most of his career, he ran a successful graphic design studio – until the pandemic changed everything.
Like many in Mexico City, Enrique was hit hard. His business suffered, and eventually, he had to close his studio. With his remaining funds, he supported his younger employees.
At 70+, Enrique stood at a crossroads. With his business gone, he did the only thing he could. He reached “inside his own drawers”, quite literally, and rediscovered his art and brought his work to the streets.
As he handed us the perfectly wrapped drawing, I looked at him in complete admiration.
Enrique could have simply sold us his work and moved on, but instead, he took pride in his work and treated our drawing as art, not just a sale.
I shared this story in my last Coffee for the Curious, where Minola put it so perfectly: “Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back, it’s about bouncing forward.”
And that’s what I’ll remember every time I look at “Agustinilla” — a piece created by a man who reinvented himself at 76 and “bounced” forward.