Mikail Akar: The Ten-Year-Old Artist Taking the Global Art World by Storm
Young artist Mikail Akar is making waves in the art world at just ten years old. The tween creator is already a bona fide painter with works held internationally and showcased across numerous exhibitions around the globe. His colorful work appeals to lovers of contemporary art, as the prodigy draws inspiration from historical figures including Jackson Pollock, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Gerhard Richter.
Mikail’s exhibition, UNBELIEVABLE, will be on display at the Modus10 Rolf Benz flagship store in SoHo from March 31st through May 31st, 2023.
Mikail’s paintings are collected internationally among art collectors and celebrities alike. Already making a mark on the international press circuit, he has appeared on Fox News, BBC News, the New York Post, ProSieben, and RTL.
Born in 2012 in Cologne, his career began in a fairly carefree way. For his fourth birthday, his parents gave him a small canvas and finger paints, largely because they didn’t want to buy him more Legos or toy cars. That moment marked the beginning of his prolific artistic journey, and he continues to paint today at his studio in Cologne, Germany.
His talent was visible from his very first painting, and his parents fully encouraged him to keep going. Watching YouTube videos together, Mikail picked up various painting techniques, and before long the young artist was painting nonstop. His introduction to the wider art world followed shortly after, as adult artists began taking increasing interest in his work.
A Rapid Rise Across Global Stages
Mikail has already held exhibitions in several cities across Germany, including Cologne, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, where international art collectors soon took notice of the young artist. That attention led to further shows in Vienna, Zurich, Istanbul, and New York City.
Since his solo exhibition at The Highline Gallery in New York City in April 2022, Mikail’s work has appeared at additional exhibitions, including the Munich Art Fair, ArtMuc, in Germany in May 2022, the ArtArchCologne Exhibit in Germany in December 2022, the Ernst Fuchs Museum in Vienna, Austria in December 2022, and the Grand Hotel Schloss Bensberg Exhibit in Germany, running from February through May 2023.
Forthcoming exhibitions in New York City include his solo show at Modus10, Rolf Benz Flagship Store in SoHo, from March 31st through May 31st, 2023, as well as ArtExpo New York Fine Art Fair at Booth S404, Pier 36, from March 30th through April 2nd, 2023.
Beyond the Canvas
As a visual artist, Mikail has no interest in limiting himself to traditional canvases. He recently painted a section of wreckage from an Airbus 310, which was exhibited at Cologne Bonn Airport after being completed at his own studio in Cologne, with plans for it to appear in other international airports in the future.
Among his current projects is a series of three classic cars set to travel on a roadshow in the near future, along with a secret project involving a 165 foot, or fifty meter, canvas painting still under wraps.
What continues to stand out about Mikail’s trajectory is not just the scale of his ambition, but how naturally he moves between mediums, from canvas to aircraft fuselage to full length cars, treating each surface as simply another way to tell a visual story. That willingness to experiment across formats, rare even among seasoned artists, has become one of the defining traits of his young career.
The young artist also has a philanthropic side and has gained notable attention for donating work to auction for good causes, including the Art Helps to Give campaign. One of his most recent collaborations was with mineral water brand Gerolsteiner, through the Mikail Akar Artist Edition, which saw his artwork printed on more than 17 million water bottles. He has also organized charity events in Turkey to support local communities following the 2020 earthquake, working alongside the Civil Protection authority AFAD. Mikail has painted alongside German celebrities including the Höhner, Laith Al Deen, Manuel Neuer, and Peter Maffay, and has appeared on the German television show Klein Gegen Gross, hosted by Kai Pflaume.
Despite his many creative adventures, Mikail has remained a normal child, attending school in Cologne and fully supported by his parents and two siblings.
For more information, please visit https://mikailakar.de/
