--- description: Brief sitemap and spatial directory for the digital twin tags: - spatial-directory - digital-twin title: Urban Nation Museum --- # Urban Nation Museum > A virtual 3D replica of the Urban Nation Museum located in Berlin, dedicated to street art, graffiti, and urban contemporary art. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Project Description The URBAN NATION Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, located on Bülowstraße in Berlin, stands as a powerful symbol of the deep connection between the city and urban art. Designed by the Berlin architecture firm GRAFT, the museum features exhibition rooms on the lower two floors with an open, museum-like space created by removing the ceiling between the ground and first floors, allowing visitors to walk over 500 square meters via bridges. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Spatial Hierarchy - [Ground Floor](/view/urban-nation-interior/llms-full.txt#ground-floor): Ground floor exhibition space spanning 269.5 sqm featuring multiple tagged points of interest and artworks. - [1st Floor](/view/urban-nation-interior/llms-full.txt#1st-floor): First floor exhibition space spanning 211.8 sqm showcasing diverse street art and urban installations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Global Metadata - **Address:** Bülowstraße 7, Berlin, 10783, DE - **Software/Engine:** PlayCanvas - **Property Type:** studio ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ## Complete Inventory Overview - **Made of Desires and Fears** — Ground Floor "Made of Desires and Fears" by Berlin-based Italian street artist, Drew.Lab_One. This acrylic and spray paint work weaves Arabic, Gothic, and Sumerian calligraphy, as well as Cyrillic and Gothic script traditions, into a collage of quotations from the Italian author Calvino using different letter types from different eras and cultures, symbolizing the architectural and cultural diversity of Berlin. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/made-of-desires-and-fears) - **Der Blobenstein** — Ground Floor The artist Kenny Scharf, born in Los Angeles in 1958, moved to New York City in the late 1970s to dive into the art scene of the East Village, where he shared a living space with Keith Haring. His paintings are inspired by comics, science fiction and TV cartoon series. The New York subway graffiti writers fascinated him because they seemed to make art out of pure passion. Although Scharf does not like the term “street art” himself, he can be regarded as one of its forefathers. Scharf used the spray can in public space, making a place for his cosmic-surrealistic splashes of color – his “blobs” – in the cityscape of New York. To this day, Scharf creates large-scale murals, which he paints quickly and alone, without assistants. His work seen here is titled The Blobenstein. It is an example of his characteristic style with bold colors and typical “blob” creatures. Scharf describes himself as a “pop surrealist.” Alien, psychedelic elements feed into a vibrant and visually accessible aesthetic, one that is alive with the energy of the wild 1980s. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/der-blobenstein) - **Untitled** — Ground Floor John “Crash” Matos was born in 1961 in the Bronx, where many writers lived and where hip-hop culture is generally accepted to have its roots. He was one of the first New York graffiti artists to bring the young art movement from the streets and trains into the galleries. Crash, then nineteen, curated the important Graffiti Art Success for America exhibition at the alternative art space Fashion Moda. Such shows played an important role in legitimizing graffiti as an art movement. In his work Untitled (2017), Crash transfers fragments of lettering and other graffiti elements to the canvas in clear, bright colors. This creates the impression of a greatly enlarged section of a giant graffiti work while blurring the boundaries between style writing, street art, pop art, and abstract painting. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/crash-untitled) - **Interpretation Of The Book Cover Of Subway Art** — Ground Floor Owen Dippie, a celebrated street artist from Kawerau, New Zealand, specializes in large-scale photo-realistic murals. He has visited New York City many times, painting and paying homage to the “mecca of graffiti” in various ways. Dippie’s two fields of expertise, photo-realism and historicallyconscious graffiti references, merge exquisitely in the work Interpretation Of The Book Cover Of Subway Art (2010) shown here. He created a meticulous reconstruction of the cover of Subway Art as it was designed for the original first edition – a loving homage to the “bible of graffiti,” the highly influential collaboration between Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant. The publication of this book was a breakthrough for the art movement’s visibility as much as it was a catalyst for young people around the world to take up graffiti themselves, not only in New York but in places as far away as New Zealand. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/interpretation-of-the-book-cover-of-subway-art) - **Made in the Bronx** — Ground Floor Founded in the 1980s, Tats Cru is a mainstay of New York graffiti. The group’s collaborative approach is to integrate the individual members’ styles and names into one collective work of art. Having gained a reputation as the creator of large-scale murals, Tats Cru has worked with some of the world’s major music acts like Missy Elliot, Jennifer Lopez, and Metallica. The members also helped solidify graffiti writing in Europe when they visited England for a project with young local writers who would later become the country’s most famed pioneers. Tats Cru developed letter writing in their own particular way, which also shows in their work Made in the Bronx. This painting makes reference to the five elements of hip-hop, the pillars of the Bronx-born culture: music (DJing), lyrics (MCing), dance (breakdancing), visual art (graffiti), and historical knowledge of the movement. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/made-in-the-bronx) - **Underground Playground** — Ground Floor Chris “Daze” Ellis was instrumental in helping early graffiti set off for new horizons. After studying at the High School of Art & Design, Daze exhibited his works alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring as early as 1981. “… [subway cars] became my whole life from 1976 to 1982. Although I no longer paint trains, painting in general naturally remains the central point in my life. It defines who I am as a person in this world.” His 2017 work Underground Playground feels like looking backward in time, with memories of times long gone evoked – an everlasting connection to the subway cars that once sparked Daze’s interest in graffiti. As he explained in an interview in 2017: “… it became my whole life from 1976 to 1982. Although I no longer paint trains, painting in general naturally remains the central point in my life. It defines who I am as a person in this world.” There’s a certain melancholy to this – but the light at the end o f the tunnel points to something new that’s on its way. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/underground-playground) - **Seen Pjay Kehl & Blade Location: South Bronx** — Ground Floor Martha Cooper, born in 1943 in Baltimore, is a legendary photographer whose commitment to graffiti has contributed immensely to the culture’s visibility around the world. Cooper was the first female photo journalist employed at the New York Post. In the late 1970s, subway graffiti caught her attention. She subsequently met some writers and decided to document the fleeting artworks extensively. At this time, before the culture was assigned any classifications, Cooper recognized its importance and thus teamed up with like-minded photographer Henry Chalfant to create the groundbreaking book Subway Art. This “bible of graffiti” is a milestone of contemporary photography that captures the spirit of a movement. The original dummy of the book was shown at URBAN NATION as part of Cooper’s first international retrospective exhibition Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures (2020–2022). Her strong ties to the museum are also reflected by the in-house library she donated to URBAN NATION in 2021 in addition to her permanent loans of publications and archival materials. Cooper’s work in this exhibition, Seen Pjay Kehl & Blade Location: South Bronx, shows a “double whole car” done by four of the most noted New York graffiti pioneers. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/seen-pjay-kehl) - **I will build you up while they put you down** — Ground Floor talian street artist Millo was born in Pescara in 1979. His large-scale murals and canvas works feature friendly-looking figures who explore their urban surroundings. By using distinct black and white lines with sparse accents of color and numerous fine details, Millo’s narrative paintings open up a world unique to itself and express existential emotions ranging from love and hope to loneliness and fear. Whether the protagonists are individuals or couples, they appear to exist in a labyrinth of imaginary cityscapes and in a state of introspection, seemingly stopping the hectic flow of time. The work by Millo shown here was created in 2017 on a wooden panel in the URBAN NATION before the museum was officially opened. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/i-will-build-you-up-while-they-put-you-down) - **Three Tier** — Ground Floor Aniruddh Mehta is a visual artist and designer based in Mumbai, India. His work spans a wide range of media: from traditional graphic design to digital and new media art. Mehta’s artistic practice is defined by attention to detail and a seamless combination of techniques, often focusing on common themes that connect single artworks. Mehta’s work created for this exhibition represents visually the complexity of megacities in India today by layering geometric patterns and photographs taken in the cities – from wall textures to street corners to the people who inhabit these spaces. Mehta’s collage-based work is an ode to the city he lives in and the cities he visits. On loan courtesy of St+Art India Foundation. St+art India Foundation The first iteration of the artwork Cracks and Pockets was presented in 2017 at the Sassoon Dock Art Project, an indoor and outdoor experiential exhibition curated by St+art India Foundation, an organization that has fostered Urban Art in India since 2014. St+art India Foundation is a non-profit organization based in India which contributes to urban regeneration and community living through contemporary urban art projects. The foundation enables a vision for democratised public spaces through interdisciplinary art interventions that are rooted in the social context. Since 2014, the foundation has organised more than 30 festivals and 7 art districts across New Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad among 20 other cities, creating iconic landmarks with over 600+ murals, installations and community based spatial interventions while working with more than 500 Indian and international artists. In 2019, St+art introduced the ‘Craft into Contemporary’ Residency to explore how indigenous crafts can find relevance in today’s global context grounding it in research, creative experimentation, and mentorship. Along with this, the St+art Care Initiative enables a transformative experience to government run institutions, women and children’s centres, and NGOs like paediatric hospitals and special education schools where artists engage with the community members and students to create interactive art in spaces which are often somber. This extensive body of work that is spread out through the country has also empowered the foundation to play a key role in influencing public policy at a state and central level in India. Each public art district in the country and editions of festivals bring curated projects to civic spaces that are embedded in urban culture, and use art as a tool to reimagine how public spaces can be utilised. For the foundation, which has been responsible for making urban art a movement in India, public art interventions are a celebration of the street as a canvas for visual creativity. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/three-tier) - **Billy #2** — Ground Floor Joel Daniel Phillips is an American portrait artist who is convinced that portraiture has the power to enable empathy across temporal and spatial distance. Phillips strives to explore the personal and societal histories etched in the world around him. His portraits’ subjects and motifs are derived from historical images and from everyday life, oftentimes appearing dreamlike and dislocated. “My process is inherently about labor, and against the modern backdrop of instant, image-driven gratification.” The work Billy #2 (2016), shown here, is a life-size charcoal/graphite drawing out of the series No Regrets in Life. With this series, the artist created a monument in tribute to the overlooked and underrecognized people he frequently meets on the street. These individuals are no longer just background figures in public space but are shown as the main characters in their own stories. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/billy-2) - **URBAN NATION Mini Dudes** — Ground Floor Self-taught street artist Jaune lives in Brussels and used to work as a garbageman. In his detailed stencil works, he pays homage to his own biography, and to the freedom and poetry that can be found in the “unglamorous” aspects of city life. Jaune first gained public attention in 2011 with his miniature garbagemen playing and celebrating along the sidewalks of Brussels in their yellow and orange workwear. As he knows from his own experience, garbagemen are mostly invisible to passers-by, and so he plays with the contradiction between visibility and invisibility in small-scale scenes that unfold below eye-level and that are too lovingly artful and funny to be ignored. In the exhibition, his “mini dudes” can be found right next to the entrance. His work URBAN NATION Mini Dudes was created in 2018 outside the Project Space across from the museum. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/urban-nation-mini-dudes) - **Ammazzo** — Ground Floor The artist, who works under the pseudonym HOGRE, is internationally known for his unauthorized interventions in public space. His artworks are especially characterized by irony and critical thinking towards media narratives. The first of HOGRE’s subvertising campaigns took place in 2006 when he covered Berlusconi’s election posters in Rome’s Tufello district with red noses and insults. HOGRE’s works are regularly shown in solo and group exhibitions, but despite his international fame, he prefers to remain anonymous due to the controversial reactions to his provocative art. “As long as war is a profitable market, there will be war.” In this exhibition, HOGRE presents his project Ammazzo, which means “I kill” in Italian—a fictional brand that sells and delivers weapons to anyone who can and is willing to pay for them. In this project, he uses three different media: a reproduction of the poster placed on billboards in Berlin and Rome, a painting on canvas in standard 16:9 screen format, and a video documenting the po sters being put up in both cities. The artist’s critical view on capitalism points to a brutal reality. In his own words: “… As long as war is a profitable market, there will be war.” On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/ammazzo-poster-campaign) - **Ammazzo** — Ground Floor The artist, who works under the pseudonym HOGRE, is internationally known for his unauthorized interventions in public space. His artworks are especially characterized by irony and critical thinking towards media narratives. The first of HOGRE’s subvertising campaigns took place in 2006 when he covered Berlusconi’s election posters in Rome’s Tufello district with red noses and insults. HOGRE’s works are regularly shown in solo and group exhibitions, but despite his international fame, he prefers to remain anonymous due to the controversial reactions to his provocative art. “As long as war is a profitable market, there will be war.” In this exhibition, HOGRE presents his project Ammazzo, which means “I kill” in Italian—a fictional brand that sells and delivers weapons to anyone who can and is willing to pay for them. In this project, he uses three different media: a reproduction of the poster placed on billboards in Berlin and Rome, a painting on canvas in standard 16:9 screen format, and a video documenting the po sters being put up in both cities. The artist’s critical view on capitalism points to a brutal reality. In his own words: “… As long as war is a profitable market, there will be war.” On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/hogre-screenshot) - **Werbepause** — Ground Floor This collaboration between HOGRE and Rocco and His Brothers invites the viewer to critically reflect on the influence of public advertising, and to contemplate what could potentially be gained by reclaiming urban spaces. The work was first shown at an exhibition at Kunstraum Kreuzberg in 2022. Werbepause (Commercial Break) is a collage of billboard posters gathered from various advertising spaces in and around Berlin; it exhibits a clear reference to TV test patterns. These relics from the analog television era can be seen as a symbol for the emptiness and repetitiveness of mass media and consumer culture. By placing the poster fragments within the test pattern of a dead channel, the artists create a subversive disruption. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/werbepause) - **Collisions** — Ground Floor New York based artist and activist Jordan Seiler, born in 1979, focuses his work on public advertising and on various ways of resisting it creatively. Having started taking over billboards and advertising spaces with his own artworks in the early 2000s, he has since developed various forms of subvertising, and organizes collective activism. “While public space is thought of as a collective resource, it often serves the interests of a few, outdoor advertising being one prime example.” Two series of works by Jordan Seiler are exhibited here: Collisions (2016–2020) is a series of augmented reality-enhanced photographs. By scanning the QR code next to the photo prints, you will be able to experience the augmented versions of the works, showing videos of the subverting acts. PublicAccess keys are functional sculptures that allow anyone to use for their own purposes the civic infrastructure of cities that are normally reserved for commercial messaging. Seiler has created tools to open advertising displays and offers a how-to guide for using them. The key box set PublicAccess (2020) for opening these advertising displays can be found here in the vitrines. With this project Seiler says: “While public space is thought of as a collective resource, often it serves the interests of a few, outdoor advertising being one prime example.” The project offers easy access to the resource of poster space which, for the artist, represents a model for democratic participation in urban space. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/collisions) - **PublicAccess** — Ground Floor New York based artist and activist Jordan Seiler, born in 1979, focuses his work on public advertising and on various ways of resisting it creatively. Having started taking over billboards and advertising spaces with his own artworks in the early 2000s, he has since developed various forms of subvertising, and organizes collective activism. The key box sets PublicAccess are functional sculptures that allow anyone to use for their own purposes the civic infrastructure of cities that are normally reserved for commercial messaging. Seiler has created tools to open advertising displays and offers a how-to guide for using them. The key box set PublicAccess (2020) for opening these advertising displays can be found here in the vitrines. With this project Seiler says: “While public space is thought of as a collective resource, often it serves the interests of a few, outdoor advertising being one prime example.” The project offers easy access to the resource of poster space which, for the artist, represents a model for democratic participation in urban space. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/public-access) - **Greetings from Iraq** — Ground Floor Shepard Fairey is a world-renowned American muralist, graphic artist, and social activist. One of his best-known projects is the HOPE poster which supported Barack Obama's presidential election campaign in 2008. In his prints, murals, stickers, and posters in public spaces, Fairey combines typography and imagery to convey his distinctive brand of social critique. For him, art also means initiating uncomfortable discussions and stirring unsettling feelings. Fairey first gained attention in 1989 with his iconic motif André The Giant. Soon after, he began his ongoing OBEY Giant project as an anonymous sticker campaign: a campaign that has no obvious meaning or commercial objective. Fairey states that his main goal is “… to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings.” On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Buy Now](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/greetings-from-iraq) - **Paint It Black** — Ground Floor Shepard Fairey is a world-renowned American muralist, graphic artist, and social activist. One of his best-known projects is the HOPE poster which supported Barack Obama's presidential election campaign in 2008. In his prints, murals, stickers, and posters in public spaces, Fairey combines typography and imagery to convey his distinctive brand of social critique. For him, art also means initiating uncomfortable discussions and stirring unsettling feelings. Fairey first gained attention in 1989 with his iconic motif André The Giant. Soon after, he began his ongoing OBEY Giant project as an anonymous sticker campaign: a campaign that has no obvious meaning or commercial objective. Fairey states that his main goal is “… to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings.” On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/paint-it-black) - **Proud Parents** — Ground Floor Shepard Fairey is a world-renowned American muralist, graphic artist, and social activist. One of his best-known projects is the HOPE poster which supported Barack Obama's presidential election campaign in 2008. In his prints, murals, stickers, and posters in public spaces, Fairey combines typography and imagery to convey his distinctive brand of social critique. For him, art also means initiating uncomfortable discussions and stirring unsettling feelings. Fairey first gained attention in 1989 with his iconic motif André The Giant. Soon after, he began his ongoing OBEY Giant project as an anonymous sticker campaign: a campaign that has no obvious meaning or commercial objective. Fairey states that his main goal is “… to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings.” On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/proud-parents) - **Post Vandalism** — Ground Floor Moses & Taps is a German artist collective duo, founded in 2007 by the two artists Moses and Taps. Together they have radically expanded graffiti by creating satirical actions and have led graffiti writing in completely new directions both formally and conceptually, with installations and actions within the urban environment and in the gallery context. Their signature colors of cyan blue and yellow are their trademark, as is their acronym TM for Trademark and Taps-Moses. Their first book International Topsprayer, published in 2011, is Germany’s top-selling graffiti book. Donation from the artists. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/post-vandalism) - **LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY** — Ground Floor LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY is a homage to the city and an invitation to rethink our urban environments and the role of art in shaping our collective experiences. What changes can art initiate in public space? What are the methods and motivations behind creating work in public spaces, and what effect does this have on society? This exhibition creates a framework to spark dialogue through art, beyond the confines of museum walls, with many works correlating to public space. We encourage you to re-examine public space, explore the streets, and rediscover your relationship with the city. The narratives of the city are present in the streets if you are open to seeing them. The all-encompassing, constantly evolving urban environment has long been a playground and inspiration for artists. Graffiti, urban and contemporary art, installations, and interactive sculptures have enabled artists to reimagine cityscapes, blurring the lines between the social and political, the physical and conceptual realms. Beyond aesthetic inspiration, cityscapes have encouraged artists to reflect on urban challenges and envision a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable future. Themes of urbanization, gentrification, environmental degradation, and social inequality prevail, prompting critical discussion that can lead to positive change. The street is a stage where public life is performed. Arguably, the street is now a gallery. Where is the interface between art and daily living? How do institutions create dialogue through art that transcends just pretty pictures and technique? Featuring works by over fifty artists in the fields of graffiti and urban and contemporary art, the nine chapters of the exhibition are: CITY AS MUSE, KILROY WAS HERE, WORD ON THE STREET, LET’S TALK ABOUT GENTRIFICATION, SUBVERTED SPACES, SPACE HACKING, NOT ANOTHER PRETTY PICTURE, DE-CONSTRUCT TO CONSTRUCT, and LOVE LETTERS IN THE CITY. The nine chapters of the exhibition expand into the city through various murals and participatory actions. This approach aligns with the Berliner Leben Foundation's mission to support the enormous potential of art as a vehicle for cultural education and participation in the sense of social neighborhood development. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/home) - **The Fallen** — Ground Floor Rocco and His Brothers, the artist collective from Berlin rooted in graffiti writing, are known for their installations in public spaces, which they have carried out since 2016. Known as “art activists,” they create provocative installations with a social framework. The Fallen is a series of four angels. Three of the angels are archangels made from parts of New York City subway cars from the 1980s. At that time, the first wave of the graffiti movement was at its peak. The fourth angel in the series, The Fallen, is composed of elements of Berlin S-Bahn trains that were in operation during the heyday of the Berlin Writers’ Bench at Friedrichstrasse station in the 1980s and 1990s. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/the-fallen) - **Kill Roy WASSÏERE** — Ground Floor Dan Witz specializes in both photorealistic painting and street art. His realism is informed by the Old Masters of Renaissance and Baroque painting. He transfers the precise painting technique of that period to the present day by working with motifs from current subcultures. To this day, Dan Witz is amazed at “... the idea of drawing a horizontal line that magically creates space and becomes the top of a wall.” Witz was born in Chicago in 1957 and lives in Brooklyn. A street art pioneer, he began working in public spaces as early as 1979, painting hummingbirds on the grey walls of the city. Witz came across the famous graffiti Kilroy Was Here as a child. In 2006, he began to reinterpret the Kilroy motif, applying photo stickers to street signs. In some of his Kilroy variations, Kilroy’s hands make a surprising appearance. Witz called this subseries Ugly New Buildings, and it shows his reaction to the increased construction of luxury housing in Brooklyn. In this exhibition, Dan Witz presents a new work from his Kilroy variations project. The site-responsive work Kill Roy WASSÏERE, specially created for the URBAN NATION, fits unobtrusively into the space. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Details](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/kill-roy-wassiere) - **Mauerspechte** — Ground Floor After the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from East and West came together to celebrate and actively participate in a historical event. As so-called wall woodpeckers, some of them broke pieces out of the wall with hammers and chisels. The pieces of the wall, often covered in colorful graffiti, were initially collected as personal memorabilia by Berliners and tourists. These pieces symbolized the overcoming of the border and the period of division as well as newfound freedom. A commercial market soon emerged. Smaller pieces were sold in souvenir stores, at street stalls, and flea markets. They were often cut into small, manageable formats and presented in transparent packaging or as part of commemorative plaques. To ensure the authenticity of the wall pieces and increase their value, they were often provided with a certificate. Over time, a professional trade in these wall fragments developed. The demand for authentic pieces of the painted wall increased worldwide. In June 1990, the GDR’s foreign trade company Limex-Bau Export-Import initiated the first international auction of painted wall segments in Monaco. This was the first time that large sections of the Wall were sold at high prices. The painted segments of the wall found their way into museums, public places and private collections worldwide. To this day, they are traded as valuable historical artifacts. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/wall-trophy) - **Ghost Paintings** — Ground Floor French artist OX has been working in public spaces for almost forty years. He uses commercial billboards, which he transforms in discerning and humorous ways into something new and dynamic. OX works with optical illusion and patterns, creating a playful and thoughtful extension of billboards beyond the frame as he responds to forms, colors and the shadows surrounding them. “I am interested in the landscape, architecture, signage, street furniture, advertising or even shadows.” The new interventions in Berlin’s urban space were prepared in the artist’s studio on plastic underlay. The artworks were installed on the street and only paint outlines remained on the plastic sheets. Unlike the ephemeral street works, the Ghost Paintings presented here are permanent in nature. These site-specific new works can be seen in the museum on a screen, along with a video showing the actions that produced the artworks. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/ghost-paintings) - **LA: Oceanwide Plaza** — Ground Floor Chop ‘em Down Films is a collective of cinematographers based in Los Angeles, spearheaded by filmmaker Zane Meyer. They specialize in capturing street art and graffiti actions worldwide; their goal is to act as a catalyst for the culture rather than to simply document. The work of Chop ‘em Down reflects the perspective of an insider. In their collaboration with the urban art scene, they often draw attention to social context and political issues. Three projects in Los Angeles, Miami, and London are presented here through films and a large photo series. LA: Oceanwide Plaza: The Oceanwide Plaza Project is a failed luxury real estate project that left behind empty and unfinished skyscrapers neighboring Skid Row, the area with the highest rate of homelessness in the United States. Graffiti writers began painting on the unfinished buildings in late 2023, transforming them into a giant canvas visible from afar. This graffiti takeover on more than twenty-five floors attracted international media attention and sparked discussions about speculation, housing inequality, and urban decay. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/la-oceanwide-plaza) - **Diorama** — Ground Floor Vhils, born in 1987, is a Portuguese artist whose visual language is based on the removal of surface layers, using various unconventional techniques and tools. In his work, he has transformed exterior walls, exhibition spaces, and specifically manufactured objects/materials: this is a destroying in order to create and in order to expose what is hidden beneath the surface. Vhils has presented his work in over thirty countries, where he has collaborated with local communities and institutions to intervene in specific urban environments, carving, etching, drilling, or detonating his way through the layers of their respective identities. A striking work by Vhils can be discovered in the museum’s courtyard. The Diorama sculpture was created in 2017 by molding concrete in a cast. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/diorama) - **Word on the street** — Ground Floor The street is a stage where public life unfolds, where text and language sustain urban subcultures. Letters, writing, and language, when used in public spaces, offer reflections and commentary on city life, transforming the urban landscape into a powerful canvas for human expression. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/word-on-the-street) - **Kilroy was here** — Ground Floor “Kilroy Was Here” originated in World War II, a meme expressed as a graffiti image of a man peeking over a wall, symbolizing the unity of American troops and the connection to their homeland. After the war, Kilroy became a pop culture icon, influencing street art and graffiti. Mark making on walls precedes civilization and has always been a fundamental aspect of human expression. In the nineteen-seventies in New York, graffiti evolved to transform walls and subways into canvases. Berlin’s graffiti, both before and after the fall of the Wall, is a powerful blend of political expression and a claim to public space, turning symbols of oppression into platforms for resistance, creativity, and social change. The evolution of graffiti in Berlin reflects the city’s turbulent history and its enduring spirit of defiance and innovation. Graffiti is inherently political, reacting to unstable conditions and reflecting its environment. Its ephemeral nature today still echoes the transient yet impactful presence of “Kilroy Was Here.” Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/kilroy-was-here) - **Let's talk about gentrification** — Ground Floor The relation of urban, contemporary, and street art to gentrification is complex and multifaceted. While art can contribute to the process of gentrification, it can also respond to it. It can attract new interest and investment, but it can also speak to the concerns and challenges of communities experiencing gentrification. How is gentrification resisted? What impact does it have on a neighborhood’s cultural and social fabric? How do urban spaces transform without generating social collateral? Streets serve as both protagonists and canvases in the public discourse around gentrification. Many artists protest gentrification through powerful visual statements, highlighting issues of inequality and displacement and challenging forces that erase cultural identities. Video and photography capture these ephemeral actions, documenting the ongoing dialogue and resistance while preserving the voices and experiences of communities facing gentrification. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/lets-talk-about-gentrification) - **Subverted Spaces** — Ground Floor Subverting public space is a way of hacking and reclaiming urban spaces taken over by commercial interests or privatization. A form of media subversion, it alters advertising and reminds us that public spaces should serve the public interest. Subvertising, rooted in situationism, visually hacks advertising spaces to initiate reflection on propaganda and its impact on public spaces, while provoking thought about direct democracy. This practice, with its combination of “subversion” and “advertising,” creates parodic or satirical advertisements that critique mainstream advertising’s manipulative nature. Through public posters that merge billboard aesthetics with new artwork, subvertising brings the context of public spaces to the forefront. This media activism challenges the status quo and stimulates thought and discussion about the power and influence of advertising in society. By creatively rethinking the norms, rules, and uses of public spaces, subverted spaces encourage us to question the imagery we are confronted with in the public space. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/subverted-spaces) - **AK-47 (Q1)** — 1st Floor Chinese artist Zhang Dali, born in 1963, first came into contact with graffiti in the early 1990s when he was living in Italy. He fled his home country in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, which he survived as a protester. After returning, he became one of the very first graffiti artists in Beijing. Zhang’s key project in that period, Dialogue and Demolition, was a reaction towards the destructive aspects of China’s modernization and urban expansion. He spray painted the outline of his bald-headed profile on walls slated for demolition after the forced relocation of local inhabitants. Continued for over a decade, the project established a dialogue with the public and brought forth a questioning of the country’s modernization politics, the notion of “second class” residential areas, and the disregard for historical heritage. “Violence is not ‘on’ people, it is the very material people are made of, not a washable coating, but an integral part and the connecting tissue of their existence.” In this exhibition, Zhang presents works from two series: photographs from Dialogue and Demolition, and a painting from the series AK-47. AK-47 is derived from the well-known Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle that has become a symbol of war. Zhang Dali started to use the tag AK-47 in his graffiti of the 1990s as a synonym of the violence permeating the rapid urbanization process. In the AK-47 series of works he uses the acronym to construct faces which derive from small portrait photos (as used in documents and IDs) found by Zhang at a flea market in a pile of abandoned photos from studio archives. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/ak-47-q1) - **B Faza 8** — 1st Floor The Spanish artist Sebas Velasco, born in 1988, captures urban environments of changing economic and political structures in large-format murals and oil paintings. In his paintings, he mixes collage-like snapshots from photographs taken on his research trips to former Eastern Bloc countries. “The painting is a tapestry of time, blending the threads of past, present, and future.” His work shown here, B Faza 8, is a visual ode to the enduring beauty of the mundane. Focusing on the bygone years of former Yugoslavia, Velasco intertwines the once-united cities of Sarajevo and Belgrade. This collage-inspired masterpiece of research photography celebrates the architectural remnants of socialist optimism: Sarajevo’s spaceship-like rooftops are juxtaposed with the iconic Yugo cars of Belgrade’s city streets. Velasco captures the dynamic light that escapes the nighttime and uses swift brushstrokes to illuminate the melancholic yet romantically nostalgic structures by street light. Through the evocative energy of these imagined landscapes, Velasco elevates the intricate relationships we share with transient spaces and the people who inhabit them. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/b-faza-8) - **Dequindre Cut** — 1st Floor Stephanie Buer, born in 1982, is an American artist who studied in Detroit and Vancouver, focusing on r ealist oil p aintings and char coal drawings. Her detailed works attest to a deep fascination for abandoned landscapes – for architectural decay in bleak urban and industrial environments. Buer’s atmospheric work seeks beauty and contemplation in silent processes of change, including change brought about by vandalism, by works of art, and by resilient nature. “It [the Dequindre Cut in East Detroit] was beautifully overgrown and a favorite spot to wander while I lived there.” The painting Dequindre Cut (2014) depicts a section of an abandoned railroad line in East Detroit, which inspired the artist to create a series of works. During the ten years that Buer lived in Detroit, this rail line was one of her favorite places for strolling and taking photographs – the basis for her paintings and charcoal drawings. A lot of graffiti could be found along the tracks, and it was preserved when the Dequindre Cut was turned into an urban recreational path. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/dequindre-cut) - **Mehrweg (Dresden Print #1, A.P.)** — 1st Floor Berlin-based artist Evol draws on his background in graffiti and uses his artistic skills to explore the inner workings of the city. In doing so, he makes us look at our surroundings in a new light. His work shown here, Mehrweg (Dresden Print#1, A.P.) (2010) is created on found cardboard boxes and pays homage to the architecture of earlier times, especially the Berlin townhouses built around 1910, typical of the neighborhood Evol has lived in for years. Here, these remnants of a bygone era have so far survived the ongoing gentrification process in the area. The patina of the cardboard, its existing marks and its structures echo the way time works on actual urban landscapes. Based on numerous photos taken in the urban landscape, he creates meticulous stencils to transform junction boxes, rectangular concrete elements, and cardboard objects into miniature buildings. Countless windows, balconies, and satellite dishes form an illusion of threedimensional facades and habitats. In both his studio pieces and temporary street installations, Evol distills the surrounding environment into manageable formats. This change in scale renders his work less intimidating; while it evokes stark urban settings, it also remains charming and approachable. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/mehrweg-dresden-print) - **RAW-Gelände II** — 1st Floor Born in 1975, artist Susanna Jerger studied fine arts in Nuremberg and film in Karlsruhe. Her paintings reflect her fascination for the melancholy of urban landscapes. She captures quiet moments in the eastern part of Berlin, revealing the transient character of specific places. Buildings covered with graffiti are spotlighted in her work – many of these have since disappeared due to gentrification and urban development. For LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY, Jerger created a new work: RAW-Gelände II. It shows the crumbling walls of the RAW premises, a former rail yard built in 1867 which is now home to one of Berlin’s last independent socio-cultural centers. This constantly changing place is still alive with culture, acting as a huge canvas for urban art. It’s only a matter of time, however, before gentrification puts an end to this lively community space. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/jerger-raw-gelaende) - **Lexington Avenue Local** — 1st Floor Born in Los Angeles in 1973, the artist Matthew Grabelsky grew up in New York City, which would become the recurring scene of his paintings. In his works, he captures everyday situations of individuals or couples on the New York subway. However, the realistically portrayed figures are strange, almost mythological hybrids with human bodies and animal heads. By showing bears or tigers during rush hour, everyday life is transformed into an unreal scenario. Grabelsky’s realization of these moments combines photorealistic painting with surrealism. “Deer, elephants or tigers in rush hour contrast the platitudes of the day-to-day with the presence of the extraordinary.” The piece exhibited here, Lexington Avenue Local (2015), is a work from the portrait series of couples in which only the male figure is a strangely realistic hybrid of human and animal. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/lexington-avenue-local) - **Abeo’s Barbershop** — 1st Floor Painter, print artist and muralist Isaac Zavale was born in 1988 in Maputo, Mozambique, where his family lived before escaping to Johannesburg during the civil war. In South Africa, Zavale launched his artistic career and co-founded the printmaking studio Prints On Paper (POP). “My art invites you to immerse yourself in the heart of African culture, to reflect on the resilience of people and to consider the profound impact of informal trade on society.” His work is focused on social and political issues in South Africa, observed from the perspective of a Mozambican immigrant. Zavale’s paintings and prints often feature inner-city street scenes. The work Abeo’s Barbershop has two themes: first, the barbershop as a cultural hub and social gathering point that is deeply linked to African identity according to Zavale. Second, the painting is about informal trading—a necessary means of surviving for many people excluded from the formal labor market. Here, people give proof of their resilience, ingenuity, and adaptability to the modern world. On loan courtesy of the Gewobag collection. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/abeos-barbershop) - **Tacheles** — 1st Floor Nika Kramer is a Berlin-based photographer with roots in the hip-hop scene, specializing in B-Boy/B-Girl (breakdancing), street art, sports, music, and photography, particularly of cultural events. Before turning to photography, she was an event organizer, editor, and author of two books on hip-hop. It was through these book projects that she met Martha Cooper, in 2010, who gave her her Nikon camera. This was the start of a new career, and of a fruitful collaboration between them. Kramer specializes in capturing the vibrant essence of subcultures and she goes to great heights and lengths to get the best shots. Her dynamic photographs vividly portray the energy and actions of these scenes and give the viewer a glimpse of the unique character and spirit of each moment. With a keen eye for detail and an innate ability to freeze motion, she transforms moments of action into compelling visual narratives. Her work not only documents these subcultures but also celebrates their cultural significance. Rather than being a voyeur with respect to these scenes, Kramer is part of the culture. On loan courtesy of the artist. Links: [Read More](https://mediaguide.urban-nation.com/artwork/nika-kramer-tacheles) - **Tacheles** — 1st Floor Nika Kramer is a Berlin-based photographer with roots in the hip-hop scene, specializing in B-Boy/B-Girl (breakdancing), street art, sports, music, and photography, particularly of cultural events. Before turning to photography, she was an event organizer, editor, and author of two books on hip-hop. It was through these book projects that she met Martha Cooper, in 2010, who gave her her Nikon camera. This was the start of a new career, and of a fruitful collaboration between them. Kramer specializes in capturing the vibrant essence of subcultures and she goes to great heights and lengths to get the best shots. Her dynamic photographs vividly portray the energy and actions of these scenes and give the viewer a glimpse of the unique character and spirit of each moment. With a keen eye for detail and an innate ability to freeze motion, she transforms moments of action into compelling visual narratives. Her work not only documents these subcultures but also celebrates their cultural significance. Rather than being a voyeur with respect to these scenes, Kramer is part of the culture. - …and 27 further tagged objects, each detailed in the full agent payload. ## Data Payloads - [Full Agent Payload](/view/urban-nation-interior/llms-full.txt): Detailed comprehensive document containing the full object inventory with per-object descriptions and metric dimensions, room viewpoints, and interaction rules.