All posts tagged: Urban Nation

The Martha Cooper Scholarship: Call For Applicants

The Martha Cooper Scholarship: Call For Applicants

We’re excited to introduce the inaugural Martha Cooper Scholarship (MCS), celebrating Martha Cooper’s legacy in capturing human cultures through photography. This scholarship presents a unique chance for photographers from Africa or Latin America to engage in an eleven-month artistic journey in Berlin.

As founding members of the Martha Cooper Library, we will select an individual who embodies her spirit, vision, and legacy alongside Martha and a panel of experts in art, academia, and photography and the Urban Nation Museum. This is not just a scholarship in her name; it’s an opportunity to contribute to a global dialogue and to represent the Urban Nation Museum and the Fresh Air program. The Fresh Air theme is “I AM FLUX: The Freedom of Being and the Possibilities of Becoming,” reflecting on human transformation and social issues.

If your artistry and vision resonate with these themes, this could be your path to making an impactful statement in documentary photography. Apply for this transformative opportunity to join us in continuing Martha’s story.

______________________________________________

Martha Cooper at Urban Nation Museum (photo ©Steven P. Harrington)

From the scholarship website and application:

The Martha Cooper Scholarship (MCS) offers a unique opportunity for an individual from Africa or Latin America to dedicate themselves for eleven months to an artistic project through the medium of photography. With the newly announced MCS, the Foundation Berliner Leben acknowledges the importance of documentary photography and purposefully offers a production scholarship for professional photographers who use their photography in an effort to promote a positive impact on the world. The scholarship is based on the annual topic of Fresh A.I.R., the scholarship program of Stiftung Berliner Leben, which addresses social and political developments that affect us in the present, and
highlights the diversity of human experience and perception of the world.

__________

The chosen photographer will be invited to live and work in one of our Fresh A.I.R. residencies in Berlin Schöneberg.

The current call is for the 10th class starting in January 2025 and ending in December 2025.

___________

Thematic Call:
“I AM FLUX: The Freedom of Being and the Possibilities of Becoming”

Art can convey the relevance and complexity of themes of our time in unexpected ways.
Under the title “I AM FLUX: The Freedom of Being and the Possibilities of Becoming,« the 10th class
deals with the inexhaustible capacity for development and transformation of human beings and their
perspectives on themselves.


We encourage artists to critically examine selected socially relevant thematic complexes and apply with projects that contribute to raising awareness about the call’s contents and enriching ongoing discourses.

Within the framework of »I AM FLUX,« three thematic fields of action, namely »HORIZONS OF
BEING,« »WHISPERS OF EXISTENCE,« and »BEYOND LIMITS,« are being introduced. Project ideas
will be supported in which at least one of the three thematic focuses finds expression in the artistic works.


1. “HORIZONS OF BEING”
In the first thematic field of action, “HORIZONS OF BEING,” artists and cultural practitioners are invited
to investigate the multi-layered and dynamic nature of gender identity. Through artistic expressions, the
focus is primarily on embodiments, practices, and self-perceptions of people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.

Funding will be provided for:
• Projects that address the diversity and manifestation of gender identity and/or the development
and shaping of gender possibilities, realities, perceptions, and representations.
• Projects that identify and critically artistically reflect upon the current heteronormative hierarchical
structure of gender, both in its institutional and everyday routine forms.
• Projects that promote a broader conception of gender.


2. “WHISPERS OF EXISTENCE”
The second thematic field of action, »WHISPERS OF EXISTENCE,« is intended to emphasize the
metaphysical dimension of art. The imagination is intended to be challenged and expanded in diverse ways through artistic expression.

Funding will be provided for:
• Projects that place art as a metaphysical activity at the center, addressing and reflecting upon ontological questions.
• Projects that artistically process a transgression of the experiential reality of the natural self.


3. “BEYOND LIMITS”
The third field of action, »BEYOND LIMITS,« serves as a platform supporting the exploration of various
approaches through which art and creativity, in conjunction with other influences, endeavor to redefine
the boundaries of the human in new ways.
Funding will be provided for:
• Projects that aim to experimentally expand human potential or those centered around (self-)creation
within the imaginative space of natural or technological (further) development.
• Projects that examine ‘Creative Artificial Intelligence’ and the fundamentally changing possibilities of
artistic expression resulting from applying the latest technologies.
• Projects that delve into historical forms of surpassing bodily boundaries and explore the visions, opportunities, consequences, and dangers associated with them.


Application for a scholarship in 2025
Application deadline: Sunday, 21 April 2024
Applications are only accepted via Email: FreshAIR-office@stiftung-berliner-leben.de
For a successful application, please include the following documents:
• Curriculum vitae
• Project outline/description
• Budget plan


You can find further information about Fresh A.I.R. at

https://urban-nation.com/artist-in-residence-scholarships/

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Confronting Mental Health Challenges at UN Berlin / “Loneliness And Other False Friends”

Confronting Mental Health Challenges at UN Berlin / “Loneliness And Other False Friends”

PROJECT M/19 | LONELINESS AND OTHER FALSE FRIENDS

URBAN NATION has launched an exhibition to address mental health concerns and issues in today’s society. The exhibit was prompted by feedback from museum visitors, who were asked to suggest topics that needed to be discussed. UN reports that the majority of responses focused on mental health, and the exhibit is a response to this concern.

The featured artworks explore emotions and modern life’s stress on mental health. One of the main issues addressed in the exhibit is loneliness. The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened feelings of isolation and disconnectedness; with more people, particularly young people, reporting that they were experiencing anxiety, depression, and self-harm, often compounded by social media.

The exhibition Loneliness and Other False Friends is part of the M series that began a decade ago, now in its 19th edition, or Project M/19. Associated with the main museum’s current exhibition Talking… & Other Banana Skins aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and spark conversations about this critical topic. By showcasing these artworks, visitors are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences and the experiences of others, perhaps spurring meaningful discussions of a deeper quality.

As is often the case with the community-centered vision and voice of UN lead curator Michele Houston, the exhibit is an excellent opportunity to learn about mental health and how it affects individuals and society. Through transference and reflection, the exhibition may catalyze analysis of topics that are often elusive to describe or quantify, in this case providing visitors tools to countenance the emotional toll that modern life can take on people, raising awareness of the importance of mental health.

All images © courtesy of Urban Nation Museum

PROJECT M/19
LONELINESS AND OTHER FALSE FRIENDS
URBAN NATION Project Space
BÜLOWSTR. 97, 10783 BERLIN
EXHIBITION DURATION: 28 APRIL 2023 – 18 AUGUST 2023


ACCOMPANYING THE EXHIBITION
On the occasion of the ceremonial opening of LONELINESS AND OTHER FALSE FRIENDS and in conjunction with Gallery Weekend, URBAN NATION presents a programme beyond the exhibition. 5 Berlin-based artists will create new murals, to join what is collectively called the C-Walls (Community Walls). Each will reflect the exhibition theme on and around Bülowstraße.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
CARO PEPE, DEVITA, HONEY BEEBS, LAKE AND MATE.

All images © courtesy of Urban Nation Museum

The exhibition serves as a space for public discourse, conversations, and workshops.
Event highlights include a mural design with artist Honey Beebs in collaboration with the Anna Freud School. In addition, there is the art workshop “Talk about it” with artist Fehmi Baumbach and photographer Darius Ramazani in partnership with Freunde fürs Leben e.V. for children in grades 11 to 13.

Inside the exhibition, there is a large seating area where visitors are encouraged to
engage with the works and receive further reading material on mental health topics.

Bülowstrasse 7
10783 Berlin
Germany
info@urban-nation.com

Click HERE for more details, hours of operation, tickets, etc.

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Photos Of BSA #9: Keeping it Small and Contextual

Photos Of BSA #9: Keeping it Small and Contextual

Happy Holidays! We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA readers, friends, and family for all of your support in 2022. We have selected some of our favorite shots by our Editor of Photography, Jaime Rojo, and we’re sharing a new one every day to celebrate all our good times together, our hope for the future, and our love for the street.


In an era where the monster mural can envelop an entire building or set of grain elevators, we are reminded that placement is everything. This year the UK street artist JPS left a number of small pieces in Berlin – just in the right place to catch your eye. This ingenious miniature box truck with a KLOPS tag appears on the riser of some steps in the Schöneberg neighborhood. It is evocative of a child’s imagination, which leads them into all sorts of adventures.


JPS – Klops. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Berlin, Germany. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Film Friday 07.22.22

BSA Film Friday 07.22.22

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Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening:
1. URBAN NATION 2022 – “Talking… & Other Banana Skins” – on FWTV
2. Flower Punk”- Azuma Makoto
3. JR: Can Art Change the World?

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BSA Special Feature: URBAN NATION 2022 – “Talking… & Other Banana Skins” – on FWTV

In his first official visit back to Urban Nation since its opening in 2017, Fifth Wall host Doug Gillen finds a more democratic collection of artists from various points in the street art/urban art constellation. That impression is understandable due to the heavy presence of commercial interests involved in the selection of bankable street art stars and OGs chosen to represent five decades of graffiti/street art at the opening of a new institution dedicated to the scene. Curators were careful to program several relative unknowns and lesser-recognized artists into that initial grab-bag collection, but we take the point.

It’s refreshing to hear the current show’s curator Michelle Houston speak about her personal and professional philosophy toward street art and our collective relationship to it. A hybrid of the existing UN permanent collection and new works, it comes off as a rather wholistic approach that respects more players and their contribution to what has proven to be a very democratic grassroots art movement on streets around the world.

With decidedly less focus on the ever-more codified, commodified, and blue-chip-ivy-league-endorsed criterion of exclusivity that plagues the ‘art world’, this varied collection may represent a retaining wall against trends we witness that threaten to erect the same sort of structures of exclusivity that unbridled art-in-the-streets set out to destroy. Of course, every modern counterculture eventually gets transformed on its way to accepted culture, and we’re somewhat resigned to that reality. However rather than zapping the life out of the free-wheeling nature of graffiti and street art, Urban Nation may be staking a claim of departure from peers to defend some of those original tenets – in this insistently self-defining scene.

URBAN NATION 2022 – “Talking… & Other Banana Skins” – Exhibition Review | FWTV



“Flower Punk”- Azuma Makoto

And speaking of every modern counterculture that eventually gets transformed on its way to accepted culture, we present the Punk Florist, artist Azuma Makoto, who uses plants in a sculptural manner. It is a practice that he hopes can connect humanity and nature. It may help if you are listening to Dead Kennedys or Black Flag – or perhaps something more industrial, or no-wave. But when he and his team send a ragged bundle of beauty literally into space, all bets are off. It’s a new game.



JR: Can Art Change the World?

In yet another TED talk, JR speaks for himself.

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Mr. Paradox Rappelling Down a Berlin Building, As Usual

Mr. Paradox Rappelling Down a Berlin Building, As Usual

The original Berlin Kid, if you will, Mr. Paradox is rappelling down the side of a building again, this time in broad daylight instead of surreptitiously in the darkness of night. It’s part of an initiative by Urban Nation museum and he’s happy to bring the stylized vertical letters that have set his work apart from others – something he refers to as ‘spiritual letters’. He’s his own man, independent, fearless, creative and talented.

Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)

“I have always followed my truth-seeker spirit,” he says, “setting my visions higher.”

The saturated red and blue lettering have evolved over time, but his technique has stayed the same for the last decade or so – a style many first compare to Pixaçao. It’s an often dangerous technique of graffiti lettering associated with the aerosol daredevils on the streets of cities like Sao Paulo – but that has also spread to cities like Paris, Berlin and New York.

Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)

“I don’t do Pixaçao,” Mr. Paradox tells BSA. “I do a highly advanced form of lettering that I call spiritual letters. I want to deliver art and beauty to the street – and of course to deliver critical messages  about the system we live in and life in general.”

And what about the distinctive combination of blue and red colors? “They are like fire and water,” he says. “Like good and evil. Also people recognize me because of it.”

Special thanks to photographer Nika Kramer, who captures and shares these exclusive shots with BSA readers of Mr. Paradox’s installation.

Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)

Mr. Paradox’s text (above):

BRAIN WASHED PLANET:
THE ELITE IS THE VIRUS !
THIS IS FOR ALL CRITICAL THINKERS
UNLOCK THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE
ESCAPE THE MAINSTREAM
GOVERNMENT HIDES THE TRUTH
THEY ARE HOLDING BACK TECHNOLOGY

Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Mr. Paradox in collaboration with Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
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Some Gems from the Exhibition: “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at UN Berlin

Some Gems from the Exhibition: “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at UN Berlin

More than a hundred thousand or so visitors have come to our exhibition at Urban Nation in Berlin which takes over the entire museum. 350 photos, a few thousand more digitally, black books, drawings, ephemera, cameras, film slides, toys, miniatures, a mural, a complete timeline from 1943 to today, 70 original artworks, a 16 screen film collage by director Selina Miles… this is an endless collection of Martha’s personal and professional work and collections for all visitors to see.

Martha called out to sticker artists from around the world to send their work in for this sticker board. Within weeks it was completely covered and envelopes continued to arrive for many months from seemingly every city. Here’s Ms. Cooper and co-curator Jaime Rojo looking at the collection. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)

The traffic is beginning to increase now that the end of this unprecedented life-spanning exhibition is nearing its end in May of this year, and we want to show you a few of the hidden gems just in case you have a free afternoon to visit the museum. It has been our honor and privilege to share this exhibition, to work so closely with the photographer herself, and to mount the first exhibition at Urban Nation that features the career of one artist – and thousands of artists.

An entire collection of black books filled with original artworks are on display including many artists formative to the graffiti and street art scene. Here’s a page with original Keith Haring drawings. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Lady Aiko mural on the facade of the museum. Detail. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Dondi at the Graffiti section. Detail. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The ephemera on display in the various vitrines around the exhibition contain real jewels like this – an original sketch that Martha and Henry Chalfant had under consideration for the front and back cover of “Subway Art” their seminal book. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Seth Mural. Street Play and Martha Remix sections. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Martha Cooper. Shepard Fairey at the Martha Remixed section. Detail. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Visitors get to see ephemera from the last five decades by a person who is a self-described collector of many things. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
The “Artists at Work” section has hundreds of photos of graffiti writers and street artists from the last five decades – continued into a searchable digital database on an iPad mounted nearby. As if punctuation to the collection is a sculpture by Vhils in the garden outside.Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Martha Cooper. Artists at Work section. Detail. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Artists at Work section. Detail. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Few photographers can say they have captured behind the scenes images of 1Up taking a break – but Martha Cooper can say that about hundreds of graffiti writers and street artists. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
A collector of many things in addition to photographs, one section of the exhibition is dedicated to Martha’s collection of stickers, slaps, and even index cards filled with tags of many eras. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Many people – from artists to curators to authors to photographers – contributed quotes for Martha in the catalog for the exhibition – and we printed 40 or so of them on multiple pages. Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures / Urban Nation Museum Berlin is currently on view at Urban Nation Museum Berlin until May 2022. Click HERE for schedules and details.

Participating artists:

Cey Adams, AFRO, Andres Art, Blanco, Mark Bodé, Bordalo II, Buster, C215, Carja, Victor Castillo, Cosbe, Daze, Jane Dickson, Owen Dippie, Ben Eine, Shepard Fairey, Freedom, Fumakaka, Futura, Grotesk, Logan Hicks, HuskMitNavn, Japao, James Jessop & Dscreet, Nicolas Lacombe, Justen Ladda, Lady Aiko, Lady Pink, The London Police, Mantra, John „Crash“ Matos, Nazza, Nunca, Okuda, Os Gêmeos, Alice Pasquini, Phlegm, Pixel Pancho, Dr. Revolt, Seth Globepainter, Skeme, Skewville, Skolas, Chris Stain, Tats Cru (Bio, BG183 and Nicer), Vhils, Ernest Zacharevic.

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Monopol Covers “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

Monopol Covers “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

We’re pleased today to show you the new article about our exhibition and book “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at Urban Nation – this one from the German Monopol magazine.


“Her voice on the phone is friendly and warm. But Martha Cooper, this is clear, does not want to be bored. Naturally not,” begins journalist Silke Hohmann in her article for Monopol.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine

“Otherwise she would not have climbed on a motorcycle in 1965 to ride from Thailand to England at the age of 22. Otherwise, she would not have moved to Tokyo as a young woman to explore and photograph a legendary and discrete tattoo scene and one of its masters at work. Otherwise, she would not become the first female photographer at the New York Post in the 1970s where she photographed life in the urban wasteland. Cooper’s photographs of Breakdancers from the 1980s are the first published pictures of a then still unknown dance form, essential for the emergence of Hip Hop culture.”

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. Monopol Magazine
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Images Of The Week: 07.11.21

Images Of The Week: 07.11.21

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Happy NYC Marathon! The trees all over the city appear to be at peak every year around this event – just check the aerial shot of the finish line as the runners cross it in Central Park today. Also, set your clocks back one hour today, or you’ll arrive late for work tomorrow. If you have a job, that is.

News this week that the prolific and cryptic text writer RAMBO has passed away. We extend our condolences to his friends and family. His passing follows quickly the death of the octogenarian Irish-New York street artist Robert Janz, whose street collages and text installations served as witnesses to ecological and social issues he felt strongly about, as well as were a commentary on the human condition in all its mysteries. Our condolences to all those who were touched by the work and the spirit of Mr. Janz.

Our interview with the street today includes Adrian Wilson, ERRE, Fernsehturn Berlin, Jim Avignon, Layer Cake, Miss Glueniverse, Peter Missing, Praxis, Ron Miller, Sara Lynne-Leo, Joanna Wietecka, Styro, and Toxicomano.

Colombia’s Toxicomano was in the streets of New York recently along with Erre. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sara Lynne-Leo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Styro Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Adrian Wilson with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Miss Glueniverse & Joanna Wietecka for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Miss Glueniverse & Joanna Wietecka for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Fernsehturn Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Miss Glueniverse & Joanna Wietecka for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Layer Cake for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cheer Up, Maggie! (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Nat At Art. Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Toxicomano, Erre, and Praxis for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ron Miller for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Jim Avignon for Urban Spree in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Peter Missing for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Peter Missing for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untilted. Berlin with clouds. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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“Peoples Discontent” Debuts with Video Greeting from Shepard / Martha Cooper Signed New Print at UN

“Peoples Discontent” Debuts with Video Greeting from Shepard / Martha Cooper Signed New Print at UN

BSA X UN X MARTHA COOPER X SHEPARD FAIREY

When we asked Shepard Fairey if he would be up for a new remix of a Martha Cooper photo for our exhibition celebrating her career, he quickly said yes. Not only did he create a new original piece of art based on one of her classic “Street Play” images to hang in the gallery of our “Marth Remix” section, but he and his excellent team have also produced a new print – 250 of which sold out in 20 minutes on the Urban Nation website last night.

Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠

The good news is Shepard will be selling another block of them on November 4th, so watch his announcements on social media!

But we still had a long line of lucky buyers snaking through the museum last night waiting for their opportunity for Martha to counter-sign their print, which had already been signed by Shepard. Because Shepard himself couldn’t attend he sent a warm video message to guests at a ceremony we had celebrating the print.

Martha Cooper’s original photo as shown in the exhibition next to the original art by Shepard Fairey.

What a complete HONOR it is for us to introduce this unique collabo between Martha Cooper and Shepard Fairey to celebrate our curation of her very FIRST career-wide retrospective, now showing at Urban Nation museum until May of 2022.

Very special thanks to our beautiful partners at YAP Berlin for making this event happen.

Martha Cooper holding a print in the Remix section of “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”. Detail.⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠ (photo courtesy of Urban Nation)
Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”. Detail.⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠. (photo courtesy of Urban Nation)

Click HERE to purchase your print now or HERE to purchase your print on Nov. 4.

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“Artists At Work” Reveals a Vast Survey at UN’s Career Retrospective of Martha Cooper

“Artists At Work” Reveals a Vast Survey at UN’s Career Retrospective of Martha Cooper

50+ years of taking photos of artists at work means you have thousands of images of graffiti writers straddling trains, street artists leaning off ladders, muralists hovering 20 stories above the street in cherry pickers. One of 11 sections comprising “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”, our Artists at Work area has 400 printed images from around the world, floor to ceiling, and across a half dozen decades.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)

Not only can people find their graff and street art heroes on these walls as seen through Martha’s eyes, we have also created a database searchable iPad of 1300 more images of Artists of Work that have never been seen before. Just enter a country name, or artist’s name, or even a Street Art festival name, and you’ll get a whole lot of eye candy, artists, and tools of the trade.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. With artist Paola Delfin above and John Fekner below. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Martha and AIko Collaboration for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin

Martha and AIko Collaboration for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin

Since the beginning of the week, we’ve been reporting from Berlin on the Martha Cooper entire career retrospective “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” exhibition curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo of BrooklynStreetArt.com.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the opening and some 40,000 visitors despite a few closings due to covid, a new facade honoring the photographer had just been painted on the Urban Nation museum here in the Schöneberg neighborhood of Berlin. Lady Aiko, the Japanese street artist living in New York City was asked to paint the facade of the museum with selected portraits from Martha’s best-known documentation of breakers who formed the Hip Hop scene – along with Aiko’s own iconic bunny character.

Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martha is in Berlin with us to see the exhibition for the first time to actually see Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures in person since travel restrictions held us all back from being here in person up to now. Here she is looking at the mural for the first time as well. And, of course, taking pictures of it.

Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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Martha Arrives in Berlin for “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

Martha Arrives in Berlin for “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

After Covid kept us all away from this exhibition, BSA and Martha finally got a chance to see her retrospective in person, rather than through virtual 3-D tours or videos and photos. Here she is at a vitrine this morning for our first official tour together in person.

“Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”. Graffiti Section. Urban Nation Museum. Martha pointed out an original sketch for a subway car by SHY. into the Graffiti vitrine with a foto that Martha took of a young Futura above the vitrine. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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