Graffiti and street art in Munich

When the wave of graffiti came from New York and swept across Europe in the early 80s, it was Munich that rode the wave even before Berlin. Some of today's leading figures in the international graffiti scene were immortalized with their legally painted murals in what was at the time the largest Hall of Fame in Europe on the grounds of the flea market on Dachauer Strasse, although the thrill of illegal spraying was also of course a driving force of the Munich scene . By the end of the 1990s, Munich was considered a mecca for graffiti artists along with New York.

Today, Munich has several venues showcasing a wide variety of urban art, and these have long been considered a boon to the city. Over the years, street art legends such as BLU, ESCIF, Shepard Fairey and Mark Jenkins have discovered Munich and collaborated with Positive Propaganda. The art group used art to breathe new life into the city's public spaces. Germany's first museum of urban art, MUCA (Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art), not only presents famous artists, but also offers a stage for experimental formats. A range of forums, events and excursions bring these modern, quirky, energetic art forms to life in Munich.

In search of the maximum adrenaline rush, seven young people sneaked into the sidings of the Geltendorf railway station on the night of March 23-24, 1985. At that time the station was the terminus of the Munich S-Bahn. Once inside, the group covered the entire train with graffiti, creating the very first such train in Europe. Among the group was a Munich schoolboy named Matthias Köhler. His efforts resulted in a large fine, although this turned out to be just a bump in the road; just ten years later, graffiti had become an accepted art form. Köhler, better known by his pseudonym "Lumit", was commissioned to paint the bathroom of the mayor of Munich, Christian Uhde, and subsequently became much in demand around the world as a graffiti artist.

He traveled extensively, leaving behind murals and setting trends among spray-painted graffiti artists around the world. He plans projects in his studio at Kultfabrik and also coordinates public projects such as the subway mural under the Friedensengel (Angel of Peace). In 2011, he invited the best of the best representatives of the national and international graffiti scene to Munich: Flynn and Tonic74 from Munich, Dime from Hamburg, Kid Acne and Dotmaster from England, Light and Marcus from Russia, Shtuko from Japan and Kelp from Chile. 30 liters of color coating and 300 aerosol cans created a first-class graffiti space that viewers can enjoy while walking, jogging, cycling, walking the dog or even on a tour.

At Bayerstraße 69 – close to the city's main station – Loomit recently created a mural as part of a joint project with Munich artist Won ABC. The 22-meter-tall mural pays tribute to resistance fighter Georg Elser, who tried to end the National Socialist dictatorship by attacking Hitler on November 8, 1939.

Munich art association Positive Propoganda e.V. deals with social problems through street and contemporary art. The association enlists the help of some of the most renowned artists in the international street art scene, including Shepard Fairey, KRIPOE, NoNÅME, CYRCLE, Mark Jenkins, Ericailcane, BLU, ESCIF and SKULLPHONE, to solve problems, organize exhibitions and create large murals in urban areas of Munich. Shepard Fairey's work entitled "PAINT BLACK" on the facade of the building at Landshuter Allee 54 was completed in the summer of 2015.

The theme of the American artist's 15 x 13 meter mural is the influence of international oil companies on global politics, and the work warns against the irreversible destruction of nature and the environment. In the summer of 2011, the association brought the Spanish artist ESCIF to Munich. He created an artwork of a vase of flowers called "Say it with Flowers" on the façade of a city building at Paul-Heyse-Straße 20, which also houses items produced by the Munich arms industry. SKULLPHONE is one of the most innovative members of the street art movement in the United States. His large-scale triptych on Dachauer Strasse 90 is inspired by the power of corporations and the media. The facade of the Munich public services building at Corneliusstrasse 10 is covered with a fresco by the Galician artist Lieken. His article sheds light on the differences in the Munich urban community.

More information about street art in Munich can be found on the association's website. Together with the Munich Department of Arts and Culture, the association published a thematic map of the city.

The first Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art (MUCA) in Germany opened at the end of 2016 in a former municipal substation in the heart of Munich's old town, just a stone's throw from Marienplatz. The façade design was created by renowned street artist Stowhead and is a work of art in itself. On a total area of ​​approx. 2000 m² spanning multiple levels, MUCA not only contains works by world-renowned artists, but was also designed by the museum's creators to provide a stage for experimental formats and objects of interest.

Other key spots for enjoying street art in Munich include the Isarbrücken (Isar Bridge) and the former Kultfabrik club near Munich East Station. In the early 1990s, food company Pfanni vacated its former production premises next to Gare de l'Est, leaving walls and exterior walls vacant, to become a haven for urban art and graffiti artists who come from all over the world to make their mark. on the building. Now much of this graffiti will disappear with the ongoing redevelopment of the area into a new creative industry district (Werksviertel).

“It's all about the relationship between people and space, the principle of appropriating public space, interacting with boundaries and breaking down the barriers that are erected and emphasized in the structures of our urban spaces.”

However, as the era of the Kunstpark and Kultfabrik comes to an end, an exciting new chapter in the history of street art in Munich opens with the opening of an art and culture center in the newly built Werksviertel as part of the whiteBOX project. Lumit is just one of the artists who have already moved into new studios around whiteBOX. Public exhibitions and projects there should open up a perception and understanding of the term “street art” that goes far beyond the well-known and visible phenomenon of graffiti.

The creators of the concept want the program to showcase the common roots of street art, hip-hop, graffiti and street dance.

1. Graffiti gallery in Friedensengel

2. Graffiti gallery under Donnersbergerbrücke (Donnersberg Bridge)

3. Graffiti gallery near Brudermühlbrücke.

4. Urban art on the Kultfabrik website

5. Graffiti Hall of Fame on Tumblinger Strasse on the edge of the Alter Viechhof