Lucky / Happy Hans

In the classic story by the Grimm brothers, a young man called Hans exchanges his hard-earned piece of gold for one object after another, in a series of increasingly unprofitable trades… until he is left with nothing. Is Hans just a naive young man duped by wily strangers looking to make a profit, or is he wise beyond his years, searching for something greater than monetary value?

Spanish artist Maguma reinterprets this classic tale of greed and need for a contemporary reader, creating two parallel visual narratives—one set in times past and the other rooted in a dystopian present. The fates of Hans and those he encounters abound with possibilities and calamities. As possessions and fortunes are rapidly exchanged, who wins and who loses? And what exactly does winning and losing entail?