How Berlin Became the World's Best Street Art Spot
Photo by Eliot SteinTommy Weisbecker Haus by Various Artists
Between the 1960s and 70s, West Berlin experienced a wave of violence as leftwing protesters clashed with Allied occupiers and the Soviet troops who surrounded them in East Berlin. This five-story building is named after a 23-year-old anarchist killed by West German police in 1972. Ever since, it’s been home to a cooperative of 30 artists and activists who are now fighting a different battle: gentrification.
Photo by Eliot SteinEast Side Gallery by Various Artists
In 1989, the concrete barrier that had divided Berlin and ripped families apart for 28 years finally came toppling down. As euphoria spread from East into West, artists from all over the world painted a remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall with murals depicting hope for a better future. Today, this 1.3-kilometer display is home to more than 100 murals, making it the largest (and longest) open-air art gallery in the world. Pictured: Schamil Gimajew’s We Are One People.
Photo by Eliot SteinWrinkles in the City by JR
In his Wrinkles in the City series, French artist JR took portraits of elderly Berliners and pasted them onto buildings to portray how people’s personal lives have evolved with the city itself. This image of an East Berliner’s hands making a “W” is plastered onto a building by what was once the border crossing at Invalidenstraße, separating the democratic West from the communist East. The “W” not only represents “West Berlin,” but also freedom.
Photo by Eliot SteinShining by MTO
In recent years, Berlin’s unique blend of energy, grit, and tolerance for experimentation have given it some serious internationally-recognized street cred. The Kreuzberg neighborhood has been at the core of the city’s trend-setting subculture for nearly two decades. Fittingly, it’s also home to some of Berlin’s best street art, including Shining and many other works by the Berlin-based French artist MTO that adorn storefronts along Oranienstrasse.
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Photo by Eliot SteinUntitled by El Mac
Berlin boasts hundreds of galleries, but it was named a UNESCO City of Design ten years ago in large part because of its tradition of brightening abandoned and dilapidated buildings, alleyways, and overpasses with captivating designs. Here, L.A. artist El Mac’s mural of a Mexican man he photographed at a lucha libre match decorates a formerly abandoned vacuum cleaner factory turned startup office.
Photo by Eliot SteinEwaipanoma by Juan Sebastián Peláez
As Berlin’s street art scene has begun attracting tourists, many of the city’s galleries have started showcasing outdoor pop-up pieces in their own courtyards and alleyways. One of the most talked-about displays at this year’s Berlin Biennale was Juan Sebastián Peláez's oversized photo cutout of a headless Rihanna outside the Kunst-Werke Gallery.
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Photo by Eliot SteinElephant Playing With a World Balloon by Jadore Tong
Among Berlin’s newest and most impressive murals is this four-story stunner from local artist Jadore Tong. A self-described artist, inventor, and designer, Tong spent years bombing abandoned parking lots near his home in West Berlin, before experimenting with graphic design. These days, when he’s not designing T-shirts or painting murals, he’s operating his own restaurant in Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood, Art Café Jadore.
Photo by Eliot SteinUniverse 101 by Marina Zumi
This far-out facade by artist Marina Zumi is slated to be part of the brand-new Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, being created by the non-profit Urban Nation. Scheduled to open next summer, the museum will comprise both an indoor gallery and a collection of nearby outdoor spaces to become the world’s first museum dedicated exclusively to street art.
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Photo by Eliot SteinHoodie Birds by Don Jon
For the past few years, Urban Nation has been inviting five international artists to Berlin as part of its One Wall project to help revitalize neglected neighborhoods. In 2014, Danish artist Don John participated and created this colorful flock of birds flapping away from a mysterious black hoodie. Several months later, American Shepard Fairey (of Obama's “Hope” poster fame) created an evocative piece directly across from Hoodie Birds.
Photo by Eliot SteinProject M/8 by Shepard Fairey and D*Face
Fairey returned to Berlin as part of Urban Nation’s Project M/8 initiative in 2015. Each year, the event brings ten of the world’s most established street artists to Berlin to each create an original piece of work across a five-day period. The pieces envelop window panels, apartment buildings, and even the entire facade of Urban Nation’s headquarters.
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Photo by Eliot SteinOne Wall by 1010
Like all street art, the designs that are curated and coordinated by Urban Nation rotate regularly. As part of this year’s One Wall series, Hamburg artist 1010—who has traveled the world painting psychedelic sinkholes on the sides of buildings—created a collection of 3-D portals with descending spirals on the side of a brick apartment building in a single day.
Photo by Eliot SteinProject M/9 by James Bullough
Brand new from Urban Nation’s Project M/9 event is this oil painting of a dancer by Berlin-based artist James Bullough. It only took the artist two days to create the realistic image, and now she will forever point gracefully down the ramp to a gritty parking lot—or at least until another Berlin street artist washes her away with something new.