All posts tagged: Urban Nation Berlin

$Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 6$

Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 6

July 25, 2015 Artists

These have been a stunning few days here in Rochester with a dedicated crew of volunteers and artists is coming to it’s culmination as murals are finished or in their final stages. Again last night Onur and Wes21 were heading back to their wall right after the big celebratory dinner at The Yards – or as people call it, “The Nest”.

“This structure was designed to create a space for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. It was designed to rest tired minds flying back at the end of the day in the hot sun, on a lift and far from home,” said Yards member Sylvan Hemingway in a speech he gave to the group of 40 or so folks gathered at long tables in the collaborative art space. “The energy in this room is real and I am truly grateful that everyone in this wild family reunion is helping to create a dream-like production.”

Eder Muniz. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This small city in Northwestern New York State is warm and very green and lush in this part of the summer, and neighbors assemble on lawnchairs in the shade of leafy trees to watch the artists going up and down in their cherry pickers or ladders – keeping a respectful distance so they don’t interrupt progress, but sometimes its too irresistible not to ask a question or two or take a picture.

As murals are completed the volunteers help to keep the paint and water supplies replenished and to keep an eye on the situation as many of the painters are here in the States for the first time or are simply not familiar with the environment. Aside from the occasional raving opinionator shaking a finger or asking curiously incomprehensible questions, the average observer is amenable.

Eder Muniz. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Today it is raining and the sky is overcast so there is some sleeping-in late in the morning, but of course if you are still painting, it can be a rather unwelcome occurrence. Let’s see those last horses coming round the final corner to cross the finish line (which officially is Sunday).

Tomorrow we’ll give you a mini-wrap of the week –including our trip into some sketchy underground explorations off the beaten path infused with the sound of water gushing out of pipes and the smell of teen spirit wafting through the dimly tunnels that serve as magnets for restless youth with cans in hand. Have a look at these more sunny scenes from Thursday and Friday in the mean-time.

Eder Muniz hit the ground running in style on Thursday, quickly tracing out the natural/fantastic forms and figures that he later would be adding dimension and character to across a saturated cyan sea wall. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trading tales and sketches and tags in black books after dinner at The Yards (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never Crew. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Troy Lovegates aka Other from August ’14 when he stopped by to see the Wall Therapy folks. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matthew Roberts . Joe Guy Allard. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“People of Rochesterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” Sung to the tune of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” by Joe Guy Allard. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta acknowledges the people who stop by below with a sign of peace. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Local talent Nate Hodge in the zone as he becomes ever-more abstract and gestural working across his wall. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund with reference material in hand. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund’s superheroic figure putting on his boots, or maybe he is shaking a stone out. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For wall locations, schedule of events and further details about Wall Therapy 2015 Rochester click HERE

$Handiedan Sets a Pinup Tone for Wall\Therapy 2015 in Rochester$

Handiedan Sets a Pinup Tone for Wall\Therapy 2015 in Rochester

July 9, 2015 Artists

Rochester, New York is the home of the Wall\Therapy festival and BSA is partnering with the team and Urban Nation (UN) to bring you coverage of the grass-roots mural festival for 2015. It will begin in a few weeks but the Amsterdam-based Handiedan got into town early due to being in New York for her show with Jonathan Levine Gallery.

Handiedan in progress. (photo © Jenn Poggi)

Her curvaceous pin-up girls and orientally adorned femme fatales from noir films and rockabilly imaginations intricately layered with patterns and designs from currency – sometimes it is all about getting that paper.

In this case the paper in use is covering the facade of a beautiful brick building dating back to 1890 that was originally a church and later became a machine shop and home to the Rochester Community Players theater group for a half century or so. After a fire a few years back the building has sat vacant for a while. At least, that is what most people from the area can remember.

Handiedan. Taking in the action from inside the building. (photo © Jason Wilder)

Here Handiedan’s specially treated custom designed paperwork brings added dimension while stunningly emulating the template shape and color palette. In many ways it is bringing the building back to life – perhaps in anticipation of its new use as another playhouse to open at the end of the summer.

Handiedan in progress. (photo © Jason Wilder)

Wall\Therapy 2015 has released its line up of artists curated in collaboration with Yasha Young, director of Urban Nation (UN) Berlin. This years theme of surrealism and the fantastic is off to a rather spectacular start obviously and in addition to bringing you daily updates BSA will be in the house on Friday July 24th for a special live edition of BSA Film Friday at the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester. We are really looking forward to meeting you in person.

Artists included for this years Wall\Therapy include: Andreas Englund, Onur, Wes21, Never Crew, Vexta, Li Hill, Handiedan, Daze, Jeff Soto, Maxx242, Eder Muniz, Brittany Williams, Matthew Roberts and Joe Guy Allard.

Handiedan in progress. (photo © Mark Deff)

Handiedan (photo © Mark Deff)

To learn more about Wall Therapy and more details, schedules, program and dates click HERE

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
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UN & StolenSpace Create PM/8 “Freedom” in Berlin

June 25, 2015 Artists

Urban Nation in Berlin has just completed a new series of walls, window displayed artworks, and a gallery show for the eighth edition of Project M (PM/8) in conjunction with StolenSpace Gallery in London.

Snik (photo © Nika Kramer)

The show is called “Freedom” and features a few of the better known names in the Street Art / Urban Art game along with other emerging artists in the Stolen Space stable. In addition to the opportunity to see new work being created live and meeting many of the artists, this version of Project M also included a roundtable discussion hosted by Very Nearly Almost (VNA) editor Roland Henry and featuring a conversation with D*Face, Shepard Fairey, and UN Director Yasha Young.

Project M is taking it to the street, into a gallery/museum-like setting, and into the community with various educational projects like these. We’re looking forward to seeing the nascent Martha Cooper library project as it continues to grow as well as seeing more panels, discussions, scholarly examinations, and interactive community programming in the future as the UN evolves.

Snik (photo © Nika Kramer)

Project M is meant as a lead-up to the opening of Urban Nation, currently slated for 2016, and many of the window works made here will become part of the future institutions permanent collection. The full PM/8 roster continued to shape-shift as additional artists were painting walls as well but we think we have it right when we say it includes Cyrcle, D*Face, Evoca1, Miss Van, Herakut, The London Police, Shepard Fairey, Snik, Word to Mother, Maya Hayuk, Cyrcle, Case M’Claim, Elle, and Lora Zombie, with many of artists in attendance, and one giving tattoos (see below).

Maya Hayuk took on the large task of the UN façade while Shepard and D*Face knocked out a slim set of tall twin walls and Cyrcle knocked out a modern text balanced graphic piece.

Our very special thanks to Nika Kramer, who shares her exclusive photographs of some of the artists and action at PM/8 here with BSA readers.

Snik (photo © Nika Kramer)

The London Police (photo © Nika Kramer)

Miss Van (photo © Nika Kramer)

Herakut (photo © Nika Kramer)

AkutOne of Herakut (photo © Nika Kramer)

Word To Mother (photo © Nika Kramer)

Evoka1 (photo © Nika Kramer)

Cyrcle (photo © Nika Kramer)

D*Face (photo © Nika Kramer)

Shepard Fairey (photo © Nika Kramer)

Maya Hayuk (photo © Nika Kramer)

Shepard Fairey . D*Face. Urban Nation OneWall Project in conjunction with PM8 “Freedom” (photo © Nika Kramer)

Cyrcle. Urban Nation OneWall Project in conjunction with PM8 “Freedom” (photo © Nika Kramer)

Lora Zombie. Urban Nation “Outbrake” in conjunction with PM8 “Freedom”. (photo © Nika Kramer)

Case M’Claim. Urban Nation “Outbrake” in conjunction with PM8 “Freedom”. (photo © Nika Kramer)

Case M’Claim (photo © Nika Kramer)

ELLE. Urban Nation “Outbrake” in conjunction with PM8 “Freedom”. (photo © Nika Kramer)

ELLE (photo © Nika Kramer)

More detail for Davey. During downtime tattoos were offered by Word To Mother in the back workshop at UN. (photo © Nika Kramer)

BSA Film Friday 04.03.15 – SPECIAL “Persons of Interest” Videos Debut

April 3, 2015 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. BSA PM/7 “Persons Of Interest” Documentation by Dario Jurilli, Urban Nation, Berlin.

SONG:
“Pipedream“ feat. Tok Tok by PARASITE SINGLE

2. Urban Nation Berlin and BSA: PM/7 “Persons Of Interest” by Talking Projects

Today we debut two videos on BSA Film Friday that have just been released in support of PERSONS OF INTEREST, our curated program for Urban Nation last month in Berlin. The Project M/7 was all about honoring the practice of cultural exchange between the borough of Brooklyn and the City of Berlin.

Artists from both cities have been collaborating and influencing each other for years and we were honored to work with such a talented and varied group of Brooklyn-based artists who each came at the project from very different perspectives. We follow a philosophy that says “honor the creative spirit in each person” first and great amazing things will follow.

While it is challenging the structures that have codified art through centuries, we deeply regard the art that took root on the streets as democratic and idiosyncratic and as something that is given to all of us. This movement doesn’t necessarily require or benefit from gatekeepers and exclusivity to prove its value to a culture – we see it every day.

And speaking of talent, our hats off to the driving forces behind these two videos which tell different stories about the same program. Our partners at Urban Nation augmented the program with ideas of their own and grew the scope of our original ideas further. We admire the point of view taken by the documentary style video that appears first because it captures the message and the atmosphere we had hoped to engender – one of mutual support and respect. PERSONS OF INTEREST honors the artist and the muse. As artists and directors we know that this kind of thinking actually goes a long way – and art can save lives and hearts and minds – we’ve been lucky to see it.

The second video is styled more as a music video, an atmospheric pastiche that plays on the second meaning associated with the words “Persons of Interest” – one where graffiti and Street Art overlap with the darker aspects of a subculture that is transgressive. Carefully not dipping into cliché territory, the stories woven here give a serious nod to the graffiti/skater/tattoo/BMX cultures – which among many other influencers are in the DNA of, have given birth to today’s art in the streets. Its a cool concept and it produces a few surprises.

We hope you dig both of these works.

Our sincerest thanks to the videographers, musicians, stylists, performers, technical experts, participants, administrators, artists, marketers, directors, poets, captains and dreamers who make this stuff happen.

URBAN NATION PROJECT M/7
“Persons of interest” curated by Jaime Rojo & Steven P. Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art

ARTISTS:
DAIN
GAIA
DON RIMX
SWOON
SPECTER
ESTEBAN DEL VALLE
CHRIS STAIN
NOHJCOLEY
CAKE
EL SOL 25
ICY&SOT
ONUR DINC
KKADE
NEVERCREW
DOT DOT DOT
ANDREAS ENGLUND

NeverCrew, Andreas Englund, Onur Dinc, KKade, and Dot Dot Dot at Urban Nation

March 23, 2015 Artists

Street Art is this enormous moveable and on-the-move feast for the eyes and mind and heart. The players and places change, the songs and the dancing revolves, the color and texture everchanging. Exploring Street Art in Berlin is like wandering onstage at the Metropolitan Opera during Wagner’s Ring and discovering that there is a superstar DJ with lasers, a death metal band, and a poetry jam on live horses as well. Die Fledermaus meets DeadMaus meets Mickey Mouse.

Mounting a show with Urban Nation (UN) in windows and the gallery was already a feast for senses, but in addition Yasha Young invited guest performers to join in the festivities, making every movement new and many of them revelatory.

So while 12 artists from Brooklyn were mounting Project M/7 we also had the opportunity to see and meet new folks we had not seen before – The NeverCrew (Switzerland) , Andreas Englund (Sweden), Onur Dinc (Switzerland), KKade (Switzerland), and Dot Dot Dot (Norway). Actually DDD was a Nuart last year but evidently was very shy.

Today we wanted to share with you these additional dishes that were on the table at the UN feast, these talented folk deserve their own posting and we are pleased to share them with you.

Onur Dinc (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Onur Dinc (photo © courtesy of @urbannationberlin)

Andreas Englund (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NeverCrew (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KKade (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A KKade observer one second before she began cursing at us and waving us away. Oops! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KKade (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DotDotDot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Urban Nation Walls took place in conjunction with Project M7 “Persons Of Interest”. The walls are currently on view 24/7 at:

URBAN NATION
Bülowstraße 97
10738 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany

http://www.urban-nation.net/

BSA Images Of The Week: 03.22.15

March 22, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Can we please not talk about snow? Spring, you temptress.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Angelina Christina, Bifido, BiP, Bortusk Leer, C215, Chris Stain, Crummy Gummy, Dan Witz, Dave the Chimp, Ease One, El Bocho, Icy & Sot, Little Lucy, London Kaye, Never, Otto “Osch” Shade, Peter Phobia, Punk Paul, Tuco, and Zid Leon.

Top Image >> C215 in Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye. So, if you are made of crochet, do you get cold? Also see the Smells tag floating above this little lady. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Angelina Christina, Ease One and Never painted this wall in the Summer of 2014. I really never took a good photo of it due to cars always parked in front. The harsh winter conditions of the New York Winter 2015 made possible for me to take this photo. On a great day like this, as we endure our 154th snowstorm of the season, many of us have low hopes for the spring. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tuco. Manimal Chimp in Switzerland from his “Manimal” series. This image also looks rather like it was shot on the set of a TV show. More on this artist to come shortly. (photo © Tuco Wallach)

El Bocho in Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Bocho . Little Lucy in Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Little Lucy in Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido in Caserta, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

Chris Stain in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We spotted this ceramic sculpture perched on a beam on the platform of the Berlin metro. This is the only one we saw so we are thinking it wasn’t sanctioned art. Who is the artist? That gold crown looks familiar. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Witz in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BiP in San Francisco, California. (photo © BiP)

Otto “Osch” Schade in Shoreditch, London. (photo © Kate O’Callaghan)

Would you like a ride in my golf cart? Peter Phobia in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bortusk Leer in Madrid, Spain. (photo © Bortusk Leer)

Crummy Gummy in Las Vegas, Nevada. (photo © Crummy Gummy)

Oof! My head! Must have been those last few shots. Dave The Chimp in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zid Leon in Berlin in line for the porta-potty. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Punk Life, No Limit in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Um, personal comment: beauty queens should not smoke. It sends the wrong message to impressionable kids. That is all. Nick Flatt and Punk Paul in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy and Sot in Berlin for Urban Nation One Wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Layers in Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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See the Gallery Show! The BSA-UN PM/7 Pop-Up Exhibition

March 21, 2015 Artists

Behind the Scenes for the Brooklyn-Berlin Pop-Up

Last Saturday the 14th the public was invited to an open reception to meet the artists who had flown to Berlin to create new portraits for Urban Nation (UN), curated by BSA.

Don Rimx checks his original illustration on his phone while creating much larger color version on the wall at the UN Gallery Pop-Up show (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The companion show for “Persons of Interest” at the UN Gallery is a pop-up show by the same Brooklyn artists whose portrait works were in the windows of the future museum but there were two important differences from those installations:

1. The artist had no limitations or guidelines regarding the subject or style of their chosen piece
2. The installation was to be mounted directly on the wall and not for sale.

Don Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)

After asking each artist to research and select their “person of interest” for the main windows and façade of the UN, it only seemed fair that we put no restrictions on the content or inspiration for their other piece for the opening to allow more free expression.

While we like gallery shows that sell art it felt much more natural to see the artists hit the walls directly as they would on the street – from floor to ceiling and side by side, they created a sort of continuum that lead out of the gallery doors out to the walls of this much-decorated city.

Don Rimx “Ache”, a bendicion in the spirit of his birthplace of Puerto Rico.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Because these new artworks will have a limited run that ends in their destruction, the experience for the gallery goer of viewing them is an acknowledgement that the roots of this art-making practice embraces its ephemeral quality.

Something about that fact makes the work more immediate, more consequential, knowing that the work you are viewing on the street may not be there tomorrow. Each one of these artists knows this on the street, something another kind of artist may find difficult to accept or incorporate into their thinking.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In the first couple of days everyone was recovering from serious NY-Berlin jet lag, and a handful of the artists were wearing the same clothes they arrived in while waiting for their luggage that was stuck in Düsseldorf because of a strike by bag handlers. One artist missed his plane, others got a little lost on the metro, and there were two lost phones – but these are small problems once you are confronted with a blank wall next to 11 peers on which to create something amazing.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It is a prospect full of opportunities and maybe a little bit of anxiety, but each artist brought their A-game and knew they were in a supportive environment. They also created it – reaching out to help with a brush or a ladder or can of paint, a word of advice and some problem solving too. Ultimately they were total professionals with skillz to lay down. By adapting and excelling at their work, the collective effect that this eclectic harmony produced clearly energized the crowd that overflowed onto the sidewalks Saturday night.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The result on the gallery walls is an acid rainbow pop of personality, metaphor, text, pattern, socio/political commentary, activism, and a tribute to ancestors. Each artist brought their individual style and approach to gallery walls in much the same way that appears on the street. For a few it was the first time meeting while others were long-time friends and clearly some were fans of each others work.

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One coincidence that sort of blew us away was that Don Rimx and Specter both told us that their pieces were meant to be a “blessing” to their hosts; Rimx featuring a re-worked traditional image of a Puerto Rican grandmother and overflowing bucket of water – “the source of life” he said, and Specters post-modern repetition of leaves from a plant that he said you would bring someone as a gift. Neither had consulted with the other or us, and yet both mounted these pieces side-by-side.

Any day you get to work with artists is a good day – especially driven dynamic talented ones who are always challenging themselves, digging deeper to pull out something that speaks, that means something. These few precious days in Berlin with these few artists were very good days indeed for us and we hope for them too.

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s undulating biomorphic and ornate paper cuts were at center stage of the gallery, wrapped around the columns in the middle of the room.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olivia from Swoon’ Studio working on the installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter took off his shoes to create but remained in his long-johns while waiting for his luggage to arrive a day and a half after him. This plant was understated and yet commanded attention – this guy is one of the most intellectually adventurous in his street practice, easily sliding between mediums and concepts. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain prepped his wall by tagging the surface multiple times in multiple colors and mucking it up with a roller – effectively bringing the street into the gallery so he could paste his new longer form enigmatic collage portrait on it and within the sea of colors and texture. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain likes to work alone so he took his body parts and pieces into the adjacent store room to assemble and reassemble, spray, color, cut out, selectively damage or damask – a process that allows for experimentation and discovery while the artist relies on some intuitive guidance to get to the final piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain and Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Some place in there you’ll find Chris Stain at work on his piece – an artist whose work always reflects the people you see on the street and in your neighborhood. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain brings a bit of Brooklyn to Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia’s gallery piece was directly related to his portrait of Fereshta Ludin that he completed for the “Persons of Interest” window installation. An artist who makes a fulsome study of his subject matter and the historical/social/political/anthropological factors that surround it – Gaia here incorporated the marching mass of right wing anti-Islamic Pegida demonstrators as a backdrop to a disembodied draped head scarf, a symbol of religious expression by Muslim women. Posted on the front, with dropped shadow to pop it forward, is a published interview with Ms. Ludin -who attended the opening reception last Saturday, meeting the artist and us in person for the first time. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia, Ms. Farestha Ludin and Steven P. Harrington (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia and Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 and the German translation of “Here today, gone tomorrow”, his reference to the ephemerality of the graffiti/street art game, and perhaps larger existential considerations. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For some, these are two essential products to survive while painting in a foreign country (or at home) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot used this opportunity to create something more abstract than the work that they are known for, which can be quickly understood. According to a few people at the opening, they liked it more than the brother’s typical work for that reason, so it was successful in that respect. Icy explained that it is a crouching figure with a mashup of a destroyed city within it. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nice Keds dude… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake . Swoon . Dain . Gaia . Chris Stain CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . El Sol 25 . Esteban Del Valle . NohJColey . Gaia CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx . Specter . Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Project M/7 “Persons Of Interest” Street level exhibition and the Pop-Up show are currently on view and free to the general public at:

URBAN NATION
Bülowstraße 97
10738 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany

Opening Hours
Monday-Friday 10.00 -18.00

http://www.urban-nation.net/

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Complete “Persons of Interest”: Brooklyn in Berlin

March 18, 2015 Artists

All the Works Completed for Project M/7 at Urban Nation with BSA

Our trip to Berlin with 12 of Brooklyn’s finest street artists was a quintessential cultural exchange; bringing together artists, curators, social activists, ministers of art, museum board CEOS, collectors, gallerists, fans, and the director of a future museum called Urban Nation. The seventh Project M, a program to draw artists and attention to the enormous UN haus while it is under construction, was called “Persons of Interest”. All week we got to meet interesting people – not a surprise in this raw cultural hot spot that bubbles with an effervescent underground and creative laboratory that is full of youthful vigor and serendipity.

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How fitting then that our first youthful arrivals were Icy & Sot, who set the tone with their 4 story portrait of an anonymous Brooklyn woman with “Freedom” scrawled across her face, an iconic scene of the celebrants at Berlin’s fallen wall inside her. With one of the brothers turning 24 that week, it was even more touching to see them marking an important event that predated him by one year – a new generation of artists helping us identify what events of the modern age are truly touchstones.

The 176 piece stencil had taken about 10 days for them to cut back in Brooklyn and the brothers methodically sprayed their missive to Berlin’s people over the course of 5 more days. This, their largest mural ever, was enormous and peaceful and an incredible act of discipline, determination, and dedication to teamwork.

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Persons of Interest” was meant to celebrate the connections between the lively artists communities in these sister cities over the last few decades, and being in Berlin felt like home to most of the artists in many ways. The curatorial vision was also meant to counter the criticism of many of the new Street Art mural festivals that have taken hold in cities around the world that they are not considering their hosts and to help focus on the neighborhoods where the new works appear.

Undeniably the Internet has supercharged this worldwide peoples’ art movement and has allowed us to learn about and connect with artists and their street work as we never would have encountered previously. It also has created a strata of international artists whose names appear again and again on these festival lists and while it is sort of exciting, it also is producing a sort of cultural imperialism that leaves a sour taste in the mouths of locals who don’t feel a connection to the artists or the art works that remain in their neighborhoods long after the festival has ended.

Our aim with “Persons of Interest” was to suggest a new model that may also be considered, one that is based on impactful work and meaningful exchange.

From this experiment that took us roughly six months to conceive, organize, and execute, we discovered two things:

1. Artists actually like to do research and create art that is meaningful and relevant to their personal stories, and
2. Many street passersby and art audiences are elated to find work that they can relate to – that reflects their lives, history, and culture.

Each of the artists had really challenged themselves to learn about the city they were making work for, and each had a story that also spoke of their own. Every day we were learning from them and they were learning from each other and without hesitation our hosts were schooling us as well.

Of course it helps when you are working with a dynamic urban contemporary art expert like Yasha Young, who has a deep well of ideas about community and more connections than the WiFi router at a One Direction concert. All week we were treated to a rotating list of visiting photographers, videographers, art directors, reporters, radio hosts, writers, culture mavens — and to many artists who were in town to put up new walls, show us their black books and iPhoto libraries, or just to meet their New York friends who were painting in the gallery.

Dain on the left with Gaia on the right at work on their portraits for “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shout out to Onur Dinc, Andreas Englund, Herakut, The Never Crew, KKade, Various & Gould, Strok, David Walker, FKDL, James Bullough, Vermibus, Roland Henry, Nika Kramer, Butterfly, Mark Rigney and other very cool well-wishers. While we’re at it, we all send a gold-plated shout out to the three women who kept us all cared for in so many ways in the gallery and on-site at the UN – Alejandra, Elisabetta, and Ana were indispensable.

Speaking of meeting interesting people, a huge highlight of the program for us was when two of the artists got to meet their “Person of Interest” face to face. We had arranged a surprise visit of one of them; NohJColey had no idea that Katharina Oguntoye would walk on the sidewalk in front of the UN and peer in the window where he was preparing his portrait of her.

To witness the enthusiasm with which they greeted one another and to hear them excitedly asking and answering each others questions regarding his work as an artist in Brooklyn and hers as an Afro German feminist in Berlin was the epitome of art as a catalyst for cultural exchange. We didn’t know life could be so rich.

Gaia’s person of interest, Fereshta Ludin also attended the opening in person on Saturday night, the first time that the two had met in person. Only two days before a Berlin law had been overturned allowing Muslim school teachers to wear headscarves – and Ms. Ludin has been a social activist advocating for the right for the last decade and a half.

The politics around this of course are highly charged and there have been xenophobic right-wing marches against Muslims and others in their defense in the streets in Berlin in recent months. Meeting Ms. Ludin in person and seeing her reaction to Gaia’s portrait of her gave such a powerful additional dimension to the entire experience of “Persons of Interest” that we never could have predicted when we first conceived of it. Gaia said it was a “life affirming moment”.

Probably what is most gratifying is when you see someone’s eyes light up with recognition at seeing one of their icons brought to life. One woman told us that she couldn’t believe that El Sol 25 knew Hannah Höch so well. Was it that she couldn’t imagine a former graff writer honoring the central female figure of Berlin’s Dada movement? We were shocked when a UN board director told us Marlene Dietrich had grown up in the same neighborhood where this new DAIN portrait of her was going up – we even met someone who went to her funeral here in ’92!

In the final analysis once again we witnessed the creative spirit alive and well in the street and in the gallery. Unlike early graffiti writers, these artists come from different backgrounds and disciplines – yet all intersected with art in the public sphere in New York; graffiti writers, muralists, painters, wheat-pasters, paper cutters… In Berlin you would have thought that they all had been working together for years, the collaborative spirit was so high – and luckily for us, Berlin welcomed them all.

The photo above captures the moment when NohJColey learns that Ms. Oguntoye is outside on the sidewalk looking at him through the window working on his portrait of her.

In the photo you see Ms. Oguntoye meeting NohJColey for the first time.

Urban Nation Project M/7 “Persons of Interest” is currently on view on the streets of Berlin until June 22nd at Bülowstraße 97
10738 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany.

For more details on each artist’s Person of Interest click on the links below:

CAKE and Käthe Kollwitz, “Persons of Interest”

Chris Stain and Charles Bukowski – “Persons of Interest”

DAIN and Marlene Dietrich – “Persons of Interest”

Don Rimx and John A. Roebling – “Persons of Interest”

Esteban Del Valle and George Grosz – “Persons of Interest”

El Sol 25 and Hannah Höch – “Persons of Interest”

GAIA and Fereshta Ludin – “Persons of Interest”

ICY & Sot and Berlin’s People – “Persons of Interest”

NohJColey and Katharina Oguntoye – “Persons of Interest”

Specter and Sally Montana – “Persons of Interest”

Swoon and Turkish Immigrants – “Persons of Interest”

____________

From Katherine Brooks at the Huffington Post, an interview with us and more images to recap.

Dispatch from Germany: Pop-Up Show at UN Gallery with BSA

March 14, 2015 Artists

A great many things underway here in Berlin for the debut of “Persons of Interest”, a show of 12 artists who have worked on the streets of Brooklyn bringing their A Game to Berlin. This group of talented people have transformed the Urban Nation Pop-Up gallery with an astounding array of styles, skillz, techniques, and a lot of imagination. We couldn’t be happier with the results. The camaraderie is strong and the creative display directly on the gallery walls is iron-clad.

If you are in Berlin anytime Saturday come see the windows being installed in the UN Haus and at 7 pm come to the reception. Both events are curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo co-founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com and we will be very happy to meet you.

Here is a preview of the Pop-Up Exhibition…more to come

Click HERE for the FaceBook event and more details about UN Project M/7 Persons of Interest and Pop-Up Exhibition.

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