Illustrations by French artist Jim Avignon document 18 street art locations in Berlin.
People have been spray-painting and marking the streets of Berlin since the 1970s. Originally merely an expression of youth protest, street art has now become an established form of mass art. Today, Harper's Bazaar Art joins you in exploring and admiring ten of Berlin's most iconic works of street art.
01 Pink Man by BLU
BLU《Pink Man by BLU》，2007年
The work was created in 2007 by Italian street artist BRU. In the picture, a large pink figure is composed of hundreds of small bodies locked on to each other and twisting, presenting a surrealist style.
In the hands of this pink giant, a white figure is being examined or is about to be eaten. It shows many small humans forming a giant monster in pain and will devour another "human being"—as if mirroring a social phenomenon that suppresses the individual.
BLU《Pink Man by BLU》，2007年
Address: Falckensteinstraße 49, 10997 Berlin, Germany
02 Wrinkles of the City
In 2013, the famous French street artist JR's "Wrinkles of the City" series appeared on 15 buildings in the center of Berlin, as part of an ongoing project in cities around the world.
JR《Wrinkles of the City》，2013年
In addition to its appearance in Berlin, the work expanded to Havana, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Istanbul. JR is adept at drawing on the city's buildings, often using crumbling building facades to emphasize his "wrinkled" thematic features. By showing images of older people in each city, the artist contrasts sharply with the stereotype that only young people can drive progress in the world. Those who seem to have gradually lost their meaning in society have regained the attention and attention of society.
JR's Wrinkles of the City series
Address: Mühlenstrasse 3-100, 10243 Berlin, Germany
03 The Fraternal Kiss
In the 1980s, the Berlin Wall rose to prominence during the Cold War, making it a "natural blank canvas" for Artists of West Berlin to depict their ideas. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, there were more than 100 murals on the wall, and the wall became known as the "East Side Gallery".
Dimitri Frübel, The Fraternal Kiss, 1989
One of the most famous paintings is The Fraternal Kiss, which depicts a "kiss of embrace" between Soviet politician Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker. An interesting fact is that the painting was officially erased due to the renovation of the Berlin Wall. In this regard, with the reconstruction of the East Side Gallery, the creators restored the work from a new perspective of "in the name of love".
04 Under the Hand Mural
Unter der Hand Mural is a mural of fake real hands overlapping by Street artist CASE Maclaim from Frankfurt. The artist is good at using the style of combining realism and surrealism, so that the audience is intuitively aware of the symbolic meaning behind the creation of each work.
CASE Maclaim《Under der Hand Mural》，2014年
The hand is a recurring theme in CASE's work, in which he conveys a message of connection between unity and power through the superposition of hands of different skin tones. The artist believes that gesture is a medium language that most people can understand, so after traveling to more than 20 countries, he left behind the creation of "hands" in each country.
地址:Köpenicker Straße, Berlin, Germany
05 The Yellow Man
As one of Berlin's most spectacular murals, the comically looking "The Yellow Man" was painted in the summer of 2005 by brothers Os Gemeos from Brazil. The brothers imaginatively created a giant yellow-skinned character inspired by their family portraits and birthplace, São Paulo, Brazil, and the political and social conditions of the time.
Os Gemeos《The Yellow Man》，2005年
What is the meaning behind this yellow man? First of all, it is a manifestation of the artist's inner imagination: a man of color, dressed in a colorful printed textile costume, with a strange proportion, conveying a sense of alienation or oppression. Perhaps, the strange feeling and cheerful tone embodied in the work reflect the contradictions of current life in South America.
Address: Oppelner Str.3, 10997 Berlin, Germany
06 Froechicher Tucan
Portuguese artist Bordalo II's work is cute and colorful, changing the otherwise monotonous Berlin cityscape. The artist is known for making large-scale works of art using garbage waste as materials. In this street graffiti with the theme "Froehlicher Tucan", the creators express doubts about today's material society.
Bordalo II, Froehlicher Tucan, 2015
Address: Urban Spree, Berlin, Germany
07
There's No Such Things as a Bad Publicity
French artist MTO created There's No Such Things as a Bad Publicity at the Berlin Mural Festival in 2018. The work is intended to be a critique of the rampant use of advertising murals in cities, as in a statement satirizing consumerism. The painting depicts a man dressed in typical street costume, who painted two standardized advertising posters on top of the original mural advertisement, reflecting the artist's use of the surrealist concept.
MTO《There's No Such Things as a Bad Publicity》，2018年
Address: Warschauer Str. 58, 10243, Berlin, Germany
08 Astronaut Cosmonaut
Astronaut Cosmonaut is Berlin's largest wall painting, created by Parisian artist Victor Ashe, born in 1968. He paid close attention to the dynamics of the space race during the Cold War in the Soviet Union and the United States, and put his ideas into his creations.
MTO《Astronaut Cosmonaut》，2007年
Floor plan of the MTO Astronaut Cosmonaut
Address: Oranienstraße, 10999, Berlin, Germany
09 Dead Animals
This large mural is a masterpiece by Belgian artist ROA. He often works on the theme of the city's native wildlife, and it is amazing that the animals in the picture are themselves in a state of decay, which seems to reflect that death is an inseparable part of life and the only thing that can be determined in life. However, his murals do not feel terrible, but convey an atmosphere of tranquility and nature.
ROA《Dead Animals》，2011年
Address: Oranienstraße, 10999 Berlin, Germany
10 Phlegm in Berlin
British illustrator Phlegm's work often features urban landscapes, most often in dilapidated and abandoned spaces. The style of the mural is half childlike and half dark – whether it's a dreamy backdrop with castles, turrets and winding staircases, or strange humanoid creatures with long hands and long feet, all of which reflect Phlegm's imagination to explore unreal dreams.
Phlegm's Street Art, 2011
Address: Alvenslebenstraße, 10783, Berlin, Germany
It has to be said that Berlin is a vibrant city. Street art is one of the most important reasons why many tourists visit Berlin. Which of the above ten most iconic street art works in Berlin, which is your favorite? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.
Editor, Wen Qiu Tiantian
This article is original by Harper's Bazaar Art Department and may not be reproduced without permission