a collection of sorts
Quite a large four storey mural on Straße der Pariser Kommune, Friedrichshain, just across from S Ostbahnhof. I get the impression that there was another face on the right hand wall but this was too faded to make out properly.
http://bit.ly/1sgSzQk
I came across another Victor Ash mural today while walking through Wedding. This is quite close to the S-bahn station and seen across the court of a petrol station.
It seems to be a tree where three children are watching with binoculars. ( http://bit.ly/1j9ejZ1 )
Anne Frank street art
Anne Frank portrait by the English artist Jimmy C. on the wall outside the exhibition ( or Anne Frank Zentrum – http://bit.ly/1ljx7ZP ).
The exhibition is worth taking your time over, the matter of fact presentation of the horrors mesh with the personalised accounts from Anne Frank, her family and friends.
By the way, don’t be put off by the laneway at Rosenthaler Strasse 39. There is lots of graffiti but also a couple of other small museums including that for Otto Weidt (http://bit.ly/RDzUTu )
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/1lpkYmm
via IFTTT
Fraternal Kiss
The East Side Gallery is a collection of artworks painted on the remnants of the Berlin Wall as it runs along the River Spree. The one I am in front off front off is by the Russian painter Dmitri Vrubel, called “My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love”. All up 105 art works were originally painted.
It is well worth reading about the Gallery and the conflicts surrounding it – http://bit.ly/1g2e9rt
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/1lpxUIX
via IFTTT
“The Pink Man” is a mural by the Italian street artist ‘Blu’. Painted in 2007, it is at the western end of the Oberbaum Bridge in Kreuzberg. The five storey tall monster is made from lots of smaller humans, one of which he appears to be about to eat.
I was looking for a large hourglass mural by the artist Blu, however I suspect it has since been replaced by these two (the hourglass seems to have been where the male figure is ) “Make Love not War” above the Magnet club at Oberbaumbrücke, is part of the AXE campaign ( http://bit.ly/1i50C16 ) which encourages people to stay in bed on May the 4th to promote world peace. ( I kid you not. http://bit.ly/1i50EGm ) Because of the proximity to the rail line it is a prime spot for street advertising.
My search for significant street art in Berlin took me to Cuvrystrasse in Kreuzberg. I was looking for a two part mural by the Italian artist Blu. One depicting an unmasking my two figures making East and West signs with their hands, the other a business man adjusting his tie with a gold chain between two rolex watches
Having seen a number of photos of the artwork I was surprised to see what I expected was an open area, to be surrounded by a set of fences, and the site full of shacks built from assortments of building materials, plastic tarps and the like.
Initially I was just going to take a couple of photos from outside and leave, however I started talking to one of the occupants who I understood came from Bulgaria. “Talk” may be an exaggeration as we had no language in common. I explained what I was doing and he offered to take me through the camp to the walls – I explained I would not take any photos of the camp or occupants.
Within the camp there were braziers cooking lunch and quite a few kids who ran to the walls with me. I took my photos, thanked the man who showed me the way with a tip, and left
Since then I’ve been reading a lot about Kreuzberg and Cuvrystrasse, trying to become more knowledgeable about its place in Berlin culture. Some of it is about freedom and the community response to gentrification. Some is about protest and violence, some about celebration.
The artist ‘Nomad’ uses a pictogram style in his painting “Rounded Heads”. This is pretty much across Oppelner Strasse from the Yellow man mural in Kreuzberg ( http://bit.ly/PRbowX… )
The London Police have a very distinctive style ( http://bit.ly/R0fAeM ). “The Lads” appears on a wall which looks like it is the background to a kids playground at the corner of Cuvrystrasse and Wangelstrasse in Kreuzberg.
One of the murals I was determined to see while in Berlin was this of the astronaut painted by Portugese born, Danish based artist – Victor Ash ( www.victorash.net/ ). I took several shots of the work which is about four-five stories tall. This was my favourite however as it shows the size of the work in relation to the building it is on, and the park in front of it.