[artinfo] VIVE SP38! Celebrating 20 Years of Street Art & Urban Poetry in Berlin Mitte

[OPEN WALLS Gallery]

<http://openwallsgallery.cmail2.com/t/r-l-zykydkl-druhjdtukk-p/>Vive 
SP38! Celebrating 20 years of Street Art & Urban 
Poetry in Berlin Mitte

	"In one way or another my work is 
strongly connected to the time it was created, 
regardless if it's on a political or personal 
scale. I still like 'Snow is Water', one of my 
early works, a lot because it reminds me of my 
first winter in Berlin, which was a really cold 
and harsh one. Twenty years ago Berlin really was 
a symbol for a certain kind of alternative 
lifestyle, and it's a bit sad to see that the 
city has developed in the very same direction as 
any other major city - which automatically 
implies that it lost a lot of its soul and 
original spirit."

	The era when Berlin was considered to be 
a city of enormous contradictions seems to be 
over once and for all. It still might feel 
vibrant and alive - and in comparison with other 
metropolises even fresh and open-minded - but the 
concrete jungle has slightly turned into a human 
zoo as society grew more decadent over the years. 
French artist 
<http://openwallsgallery.cmail2.com/t/r-l-zykydkl-druhjdtukk-x/>SP38, 
who is based in Germany's capital since twenty 
years already, is an active chronicler of this 
transformation as his urban poetry is commenting 
on the permanent change - big and small as well 
as personal and universal - since he first 
started to fuse silk-printing, typography and 
painting techniques and pasted the city with the 
results.

	After a successful intermezzo in New 
York, SP38 is returning to 
<http://openwallsgallery.cmail2.com/t/r-l-zykydkl-druhjdtukk-m/>OPEN 
WALLS Gallery this November with a new show 
titled "Vive SP38!", which is reflecting on his 
first twenty years as a Berlin resident. 
Showcasing twenty different posters and just as 
many photographs - including a brand-new series 
particularly made for this exhibition - this 
special kind of retrospective isn't only a 
demonstration of his impressive skill-set, but a 
reminder of the fun and sense of excitement civil 
disobedience once contained.

	"The slogans I come up with are based on 
literature as they are based on politics, my own 
past and events of the day as well. What connects 
them is that they're always related to the very 
moment... and a lot of the slogans obviously fit 
to Berlin. Like the 'Swim or Die' a poster I did 
when Stattbad was going down - something that 
sure has a universal validity for the whole city 
by now. And these kinda things really happen 
fast, the process isn't an elaborately deliberate 
one. It's like a kind of dialogue with the city, 
one that's spontaneous and driven by instinct."


OPEN WALLS Gallery
Schröderstr. 11.1
10115 Berlin