Berlin is often called the capital of street art, because he is everywhere: in bohemian quarters, art galleries, on abandoned houses and facades of high-rise buildings in the east of the city. Unlike other cities in Europe, where Street art appeared in the 1980s, frescoes and graffiti began to occur on the Berlin wall in the 1960s, and since then the city is non-stop is covered with new layers of paint. Owners of buildings and the state invite artists from around the world to draw for fees, and galleries are constantly holding exhibitions and festivals. Street art has become the same integral part of Berlin as the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and Techno-Verainki.
Today we will talk about one of the most popular species of Berlin Street Art-Murals (monumental frescoes on the facades and walls of buildings). The most famous of them are located in three areas of Berlin: Prenzlauer-Berg, Kreutsberg and Schöneberg, and they can be examined in a day. Murals differ from graffiti in that they are created with the permission of the authorities, they are not knocked down, they are not painted over and they are understandable to everyone.
1. Mural of the artist JR in the Prentzlauer-Berg area
Photo: @visit_berlin / Instagram.com
This is one of the works of the Wrinkles of the City project, in the framework of which the artist JR posted the street artist on 15 walls and facades of high-rise buildings huge black and white photos of the elderly Berliners to show how the city and its inhabitants in the 20th century changed. JR – a French artist, lives and works in Paris and Berlin, exhibited in America, Asia and Europe. Of the 15 of his murals in Berlin, one was preserved, in the area of Prenzlauer-Berg, the rest gradually collapsed due to snow and rains.
Address: The facade of the house on Torstraße 1 from the side of Prenzlauer Allee, 10119 Berlin.
2. Mural of the artist Agostino Icurci in the Kroytsberg area
Photo: @berlinlikeLoCalpics / Instagram.com
This bright mural of the Italian artist was created as part of the We Ar Creative in Puglia project by the 26th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is located in a special place: it was here, on Heinrich-Heine-Straße was a checkpoint between the western and eastern Berlin. On the fresco, two faces turned to each other are depicted, they symbolize day and night, as well as the inextricable connection of the inhabitants of the city, separated by the Berlin Wall. The author of the work is the Italian illustrator Agostino Icurci, who was carried away by Street art in 2008 and has since created more than 20 murals around the world. The distinctive features of his style are conciseness, bright colors, simplified shapes.
Address: Prinzenstraße 35, 10969 Berlin.
3. “Dedicated to” of the Various & GOULD team in the Prenzlauer Berg in the area
Photo: @variousandgoup / Instagram.com
Various & GOULD is a duet of young artists from Berlin, known for their installations, posters in silkography technique and frescoes that they exhibit on the streets of the city, as well as in art galleries of Germany, England and America. In their works, artists often affect the topics of ecology and social and racial inequality. Their last mural “Dedicated to” was made in 2017 on the facade of the Hotel Oderberger Berlin hotel. It depicts a worker that goes through the surrealistic space, holding a smoking pipe in his hand.
Address: Oderberger str. 57, 10435 Berlin.
4. “Astronaut Cosmonaut” by the artist Victor Ash in the Kroyzberg area
Photo: David Gannon / AFP
This mural with a huge cosmonaut soaring on the street was created during the Berlin Festival of Street Art Backups in 2007 and quickly became one of the symbols of the Kroutzberg area. In the darkness, a shadow of the flag installed on the neighboring building falls on the wall with the astronaut, which is lit by the spotlights. Thanks to this, it seems that the astronaut sets the flag on the moon, which recalls the confrontation of the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. The creator of Mural Viktor Ash was born in Portugal, grew up in France, lives in Denmark, often his work has a political subtext.
Address: oranienstraße 195, 10999 Berlin.
5. “Pink Man” by the artist BLU in Kroyzberg
Photo: @gregorwinter / Instagram.com
A mural with a huge pink monster consisting of hundreds of little men who eats himself, appeared as part of the Street Art of the Backjumps Festival festival in 2007. The author of this fresco is a well-known street art artist from Bologna, working under the pseudonym Blu, who has been creating murals around the world since 1999. Each of the frescoes is made for a particular building, fits perfectly into the surrounding space and has a sharp social satire. The “pink person” criticizes the cruelty and meaninglessness of the consumer society.
Address: Falckensteinstraße 48, next to the Oberbaum bridge.
6. “Nature Morte” by the ROA artist in the Schöneberg area
Photo: @Photocasillas12 / Instagram.com
This mural is one of the most famous and shocking in Berlin. It was created in 2011 during the street art of the Transit festival organized by the Skalitzers Contemporary Art Gallery. The fresco realistically depicts dead hare, heron and roe deer suspended by the paws. Below the roe deer lies the carcass carcass. The author of the Mural, the Belgian artist ROA began to draw black and white frescoes at 13 and quickly became famous. Most often, he portrays wild and pets. The artist more than once spoke out against hunting for pleasure and wrote this work for the same purpose.
Address: oranienstraße 2, next to the metro station U Görlitzer Bahnhof, 10997 Berlin.
7. Mural of the artist Phlegm in the Schöneberg area
Photo: @phlegm_art / instagram.com
The British cartoonist and illustrator Phlegm performed this mural as part of the ONE Wall Project project. Previously, the artist worked in a book illustration, but in recent years he was carried away by street art. On most murals, he depicts the characters of his comics, who, according to the artist’s expression, “arrange urban space and transform it”. The works of Phlegm are distinguished by a complex composition, many detailed characters and workshop work with the surrounding space.
Address: Parking at the intersection of Alvenslebenstraße and Kirchbachstraße streets, 10783 Berlin.
8. “ElePhant Playing with World Balloon” by the artist Jadore Tong in the Kroutzberg area
Photo: @Sillysis.nl / @natxmc / Instagram.com
This is one of the brightest and most cheerful murals of Berlin. It depicts an elephant playing with the ground in the form of an inflatable ball in a realistic manner. Its author is the Berlin artist of the French-Colombic origin of Jadore Tong, aka Syrus, equally known as a mural artist, designer and illustrator. Most of his works do not have a pronounced social connotation, they are distinguished by bright colors, details and a high level of realism.
Address: The back of the house on Wilhelmstraße 7, next to the basketball court.
9. Mural of the group OS Gêmeos in Kroutsberg
Photo: @tittalis / instagram.com
The yellow little man is one of the most famous Berlin murals, created in 2005 as part of the Deith Projects project. Its authors are the Brazilian twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, working under the name Os Gêmeos. Artists create murals, graffiti and installations around the world, the main characters of their frescoes are yellow men with a large head and thin limbs, which either occupy the entire space of the wall alone, or are part of a multi -colored fantastic world.
Address: Oppelner Straße 3, 10997 Berlin.
10. “Rounded Heads” by the Nomad artist in the Kroyzberg area
Photo: @miriamouta / Instagram.com
Nomad is one of the most famous street artists of Berlin. For 20 years of work in the city, he created several thousand graffiti of all types and sizes – from murals to graffiti markers on walls and garbage tanks. Nomad does not have his own style – he calls himself a worldwide tramp using any materials, techniques and styles, so as not to limit his creative impulse. Roundeded Heads, on which characters drawn in an icon style absorb each other, is considered one of the most popular murals of Berlin. Seeing this fresco in 2009, the actors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher invited the artist to arrange them for the villa, and he agreed.
Address: Oppelner str. 46, 10997 Berlin.
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