A forsaken red-brick brewery in the former communist east of
Berlin has been transformed into a temporary gallery for a daring new art
genre.
Dank and musty walls now scream with garish, exotic art works as the run-down
building in the district of Friedrichshain suddenly reverberates with cultural
activity.
Some 45 street artists from nine countries are taking part in Germany's
biggest-ever urban art exhibition, which has been extended to the end of August
because of the huge interest.
"Some of the work is exciting," says Gina Mellazini, a 19-year-old
art student on holiday from Bologna, "though not all of it rings a bell
with me."
Curator Jochen Kuepper claims 70 per cent of the art on display was created
over a 72-hour period. "Not until artists had completed their three-day
projects were the public allowed in to see the results," he says.
Cartoon-like figures hug one of the flaking walls. On another, a bare-chested
man with a resigned facial expression carries a naked, seemingly lifeless,
woman in his arms.
Nowadays, Berlin rates as one of the best locations for street art and
graffiti. Take a ride on an overhead commuter train and graffiti accompanies
you on both sides for miles and miles of your journey.
"The whole city is a canvas. It has so many walls, so many atmospheric
buildings," says Kuepper, adding "Berlin's become a magnet for
artists who produce their art on concrete surfaces."
But what is the difference between street art and graffiti?
"Many people started with graffiti. The idea that you use the spray can in
public spaces stems from graffiti, but now this wild form has grown boring and
isn't understandable anymore," says Kuepper.
"That's why graffiti never reaches the galleries. Street art is something
else - whether screens, murals, sculptures or installations, it has this
fascinating wealth of forms, all rooted in the concept of 'urban art' and
influenced by avant-garde movements such as Fluxus, Pop Art and Conceptual
Art."
Unlike other cities which have demonised its urban artists, Kuepper insists
street art today is an integral staple of the Berlin cultural scene and long
regarded as "hip."
Hollywood idols Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are great fans of street art. A
few months ago at they splashed out 228,000 pounds for a stencil work by England's "Banksy," considered one of the big names of
the street art scene.
Kuepper says "street art" is gaining increasing global attention from
the established art market, with work by its top exponents starting to break
auction house records.
El Tono from Spain is one of the participants in Berlin. The fact that he and
his compatriot Nano 4818 have been exhibiting at the Tate Modern's street art
show in London is proof for Kuepper of the "staggering development and
widespread notoriety of the anarchic art movement."
Most street artists hide their real identities behind pseudonyms - partly due
to continuing criminalization of the art form in some regions. In free-wheeling
Berlin, however, officials take a much more relaxed view.
German artist El Bocho, takes to the Berlin streets at night, carrying his
hand-painted posters which he pastes on walls and abandoned properties. Other
times he's seen attaching his cleverly designed tiles to buildings in the
central Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain districts.
El Bocho says he's never encountered problems with the law
although he sometimes gets stopped by policemen asking what he's doing
wandering the streets at night,
dpa reported.
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