BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Berlin is a city that rarely leaves its history behind. For their newest mural, “Übergang” (“Transition”), the Berlin-based duo Various & Gould tap directly into that reality with a new addition to their ongoing “Face Time” series. If you stand between the two murals at night, you can sometimes hear two voices singing in harmony.
Known for their collaged, glitch-like portraits, punchy color palettes, and sharp social observations, Various & Gould have spent nearly two decades cutting apart and reassembling identities. Drawing equally from hand-cut collage, painting, graphic design, and a bit of Dadaist mischief, their faces fracture, merge, and reform into new personalities that challenge fixed ideas about identity, belonging, and difference.
Here, a face pulls apart into two halves, each looking in a different direction — a subtle response to a site that once formed part of the Berlin Wall strip and a border checkpoint. Rather than illustrating history directly, the artists suggest themes of separation, transition, and connection through a single divided portrait.
The location adds another layer to the story. Directly opposite stands a portrait mural the duo painted eleven years ago. Today the two faces look toward one another across the street, creating an unexpected dialogue across a place that once marked division. Created for Kolping Jugendwohnen, a new residence for young adults in education and apprenticeship programs, “Übergang” offers future residents a thoughtful reminder that every neighborhood has a story, and sometimes the walls are still telling it.
