Talking … & Other Banana Skins

Exhibition

Talking … & Other Banana Skins

With its new, rich and colorful exhibition called “TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS”, URBAN NATION Museum wants to tease and invite the viewer to a dialogue with Urban and Contemporary Art.

The show, curated by Michelle Houston, acts as a catalyst for a conversation about some of the most critical questions of our time by addressing the polarization of our society, and encouraging visitors to question their own perspective and the multi-layered nature of conflicts and issues which cannot be pigeonholed.

The artworks presented in the eight chapters of the exhibition question how and what is communicated in society and in the urban environment, putting the focus back on exchange and dialogue.

From paintings to installations, from sculptures to videos, “TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS” covers the entire spectrum of Urban and Contemporary Art, and includes artists such as Rocco and his Brothers (Berlin), Icy and Sot (Tabriz/NY), Various and Gould (Berlin), Joséphine Sagna (Hamburg), Low Bros (Hamburg), and Broken Fingaz Crew (the internationally renowned Israeli collective that redesigned the Museum’s facade) among others.

 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
1UP, AEC INTERESNI KAZKI, AMARTEY GOLDING, ANA BARRIGA, ANDREAS ENGLUND, ANNA LUKASHEVSY, BILL POSTERS, BJÖRN HEYN, BROKEN FINGAZ CREW, DAVE THE CHIMP, DENIS CHERIM, DISNOVATION, EL MAC, FAISAL HUSSAIN, FAUST, FRANCO FASOLI AKA JAZ, HIJACK, HIN, HOT TEA, HUGO BAUDOUIN, HUH?, ICY AND SOT, IDA LAWRENCE, ISAAC CORDAL, JAN VAN ESCH, JEFF HONG, JIMMY TURRELL, JOSÉPHINE SAGNA, KNOW HOPE, LE FOU, LOOK THE WEIRD, LOW BROS, NOEMI CONAN, OLEK, RICH THORNE, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, SEPE, SIMON MENNER, SPLASH AND BURN, SPY, TEZZ KAMOEN, THE WA, VARIOUS AND GOULD, VERA KOCHUBEY, YOANN BOURGEOIS

Client
URBAN NATION

Title
Talking … & Other Banana Skins

Curator
Michelle Houston

Dienstleistung

  • Curation
  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Exhibition design
  • Art handling
  • Artistm Management

Year
2022

Place
URBAN NATION Museum, Berlin

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Photos ©berlinARTcore & ©Nika Kramer

UNARTIG – Street and Art Festival

Event

UNARTIG – Street and Art Festival

In conjunction with the opening of URBAN NATION Museum’s new show TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS, we also had the pleasure of hosting UNARTIG – Street and Art Festival, a street fair that took place over one weekend in the surrounding area of the Museum.

Its vast program included floating murals, workshops, guided Urban Art tours through the neighborhood, performances by artists such as Yoann Bourgeois, as well as discussion panels, street food, live music and much more.

ARTISTS

Boa_One, Captain Borderline, Cathrine Lupis Thomas, Claire Chaulet, Drew.LabOne, Hülpman, Ju Mu, Nasca One, Kartel, Kartel, Krashkid, LAPIZ, Leiti, Mots, Paul Punk, Peter Fahr Junior, Rich Thorne, Vera Kochubey, Vikunia

Guests: SLÄP! Sticker Van (Stencibility Street Art Festival / Estonia)

Client
URBAN NATION

Project
UNARTIG – Street and Art Festival

Service

  • Project and Event Management
  • Production
  • Curation
  • Artist Management

Year
2022

Place
URBAN NATION Museum, Berlin

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LAPIZ

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Yoann Bourgeois

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Catherine Lupis Thomas

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Nasca One

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Souly & Matt Mendo

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Okujou Beat

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Nicolas Engel

Photos ©berlinARTcore & ©Nika Kramer

Frederick’s

Mural / Interior

Frederick’s

For the new opening of “Frederick’s” – perhaps one of the largest and most glamorous restaurants of Berlin, located in the Sony Center, in the heart of Potsdamer Platz – we invited three artists to paint its interior.

In addition to delicious dishes and fancy drinks, “Frederick’s” can now boast a special feature design, where contemporary murals echo the past while celebrating the present and its culture.

Based on the building’s architecture, the local conditions, and inspired by the design ideas of British architect Robert Angell, our curator Michelle Houston together with artists Daan Botlek, Leiti and Johannes Mundinger, gave each room a very unique touch.

Client
Oxford Properties

Project
Interior Design

Artist
Leiti, Daan Botlek, Johannes Mundinger

Curator
Michelle Houston

Service

  • Curation
  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Artist Management

Year
2022

Place
Frederick’s, Sony Center

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Johannes Mundinger

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Leiti

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Daan Botlek

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Photos ©berlinARTcore

The Versus Project

Exhibition

The Versus Project

As is well known, the first golden rule of Graffiti is “do not paint over other writers’ work”.

Started and curated by Munich-based art duo Layer Cake (consisting of Patrick Hartl and Christian “C100” Hundertmark), The Versus Project broke both the aforementioned rule and the physical distance that the whole world had to deal with in the years of the global pandemic.

The project features several international artists, all with different styles and techniques, who were asked to complete each other’s artworks by sending them back and forth till they were happy with the outcome.

The result is both a challenge and a collective experiment in communication, where each piece has a unique touch given to it by the distinct talent and personality of each artist involved.

The Versus Project is an ongoing and itinerant project. After the success of the first exhibition in 2021, URBAN NATION Museum was pleased to host Layer Cake duo again for its second edition in 2022, while the third chapter took place in Miami at The Museum of Graffiti in February 2023 bringing with it new collaborations.

Client
URBAN NATION

Project
The Versus Project

Artist
 Layer Cake (DE), Chaz Bojorquez (USA), Mick La Rock/Aileen Middel (NL), Sebastian Wandl (DE), Dave the Chimp (DE), Bisco Smith (USA), Vincent Abadie Hafez / Zepha (FR), Formula 76 (DE), Usugrow (JP), Bust (CH), Jake (NL), Egs (FI), Imaone (JP), Flavien (FR), Akue (RUS), Raws (DE), Flying Fortress (DE), Various & Gould (DE), Bond Truluv (DE), Thierry Furger/Buffed Paintings (CH), Arnauld Liard (FR), Rocco und seine Brüder (DE), Hera & MadC (DE)

Curator
Layer Cake (Patrick Hartl & Christian “C100” Hundertmark)

Service

  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Artist Management

Year
2021 & 2022

Location
URBAN NATION Gallery, Berlin

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Photos ©berlinARTcore

Shepard Fairey Print Release

Event

Shepard Fairey Print Release

Shepard Fairey (aka OBEY) is probably one of the most famous contemporary American artists and a long-time friend and collaborator of URBAN NATION Museum.

On the occasion of the exhibition Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures curated by Brooklyn Street Art in 2020, Shepard Fairey released a special limited edition of prints dedicated to Martha Cooper, depicting a photo she shot in the Lower East Side of New York back in 1978, remixed in his signature style.

This collaboration between such renowned artists surely was another great satisfaction for Shepard Fairey, who’s always been a big fan of the photographer and her iconic work.

Client
URBAN NATION

Project
Shepard Fairey Print Release

Service

  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Artist Management

Year
2021

Place
URBAN NATION, Berlin

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Photos ©berlinARTcore

Movie premiere “Martha: A Picture Story”

Event

Movie premiere “Martha: A Picture Story”

“Martha: A Picture Story” by Selina Miles is a documentary about the extraordinary life of photographer Martha Cooper, best known for her massive contribution to documenting graffiti, the demonised subculture of 1970s New York.

Berlin not only has the privilege of hosting Martha Cooper’s first retrospective at the URBAN NATION Museum, but also had the honour of hosting Martha herself, along with Brooklyn Street Art (Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington) at the Babylon Cinema for her own film premiere.

Special thanks to our friends at Blackstreet Magazine and Rotzfrech Cinema for bringing “Martha: A Picture Story” to German cinemas.

Client
URBAN NATION

Project
Martha: A Picture Story

Service

  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Artist Management

Year
2021

Place
Babylon Kino Berlin

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Jaime Rojo, Martha Cooper, Steven P. Harrington, Nika Kramer

Photos ©berlinARTcore

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures

Exhibition

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures

After 10 months of pre-production, artwork management preparation, shipping and countless Skype-on-screen exhibition design sessions with the curatorial duo Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art (Brooklyn Street Art) from New York, we produced the first retrospective museum exhibition on legendary photographer Martha Cooper at the URBAN NATION Museum in October 2020.

Martha Cooper is a pioneer of photography. Her career ranges from 1943 to the present day. She and Henry Chalfant are the authors and creators of the world-famous graffiti bible Subway Art. The retrospective exhibition at the Urban Nation Museum is the most important and poignant display of her work and personal artefacts, shedding light on the woman behind the photographs, her extensive career and the influence her work has had on generations of graffiti writers, urban and street artists.

Client
URBAN NATION

Project
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures

Curator
Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington (Brooklyn Street Art)

Service

  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Exhibition Design
  • Art Handling
  • Artist Management

Year
2020

Place
URBAN NATION Museum, Berlin

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Photos ©berlinARTcore

FRESH A.I.R. – Artist in Residence

Scholarship Program

FRESH A.I.R – Artist in Residence

Fresh A.I.R. is a scholarship programme of the Stiftung Berliner Leben (Berlin Life Foundation) that offers time, space and resources to artists and cultural practitioners from the field of Urban and New Contemporary Art to dedicate themselves to an artistic project within the framework of a specific thematic complex. Up to 11 scholarship students per year are invited to Berlin for 6 months. The premises extend over three floors, 11 flats and 1,100 square metres of living and working space above the URBAN NATION Museum for Urban Contemporary Art.

Client
Stiftung Berliner Leben

Project
Fresh A.I.R. – Artist in Residence

Artist
changing national and international artists

 

Service

  • Artist Management
  • Project Management
  • Production

Year
since 2018

Place
URBAN NATION, Berlin

Freiraumlabor – Ein Herz für Magdeburg

Event

Freiraumlabor – Ein Herz für Magdeburg

In the summer, the pilot project Freiraumlabor (Open Space Lab) was launched in the city of Magdeburg, which aimed to test new approaches for the innovative revitalisation of the city centre through sports, painting, an urban beach, art, culture and an open stage. The aim of the Freiraumlabor was to strengthen the pedestrian zone “Breiter Weg” as a place of encounter and communication for the city’s residents. One of the highlights of the project were our nine Wall Spots, which we set up along the pedestrian zone and were painted by artists.

The Wall Spots not only provided art in the streets but also served as street furniture and helped to slow down human traffic. We invited five artists from Magdeburg, Berlin and Bern as well as two creatives from the YAP Studio to paint a Wall Spot. They created beautiful works that were very popular with the city’s residents.

Client
Stadt Magdeburg, Meta Architektur

Project
Freiraumlabor

Artist
Anna Piera Illustration (YAP Studio), Bustart, Dave The Chimp, In die Fluten (Soné), Humble Writerz, Michelle Hundertzehn (YAP Studio), Vidam (THE WEIRD)

Service

  • Conception
  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Artist Management

Year
2020

Place
Magdeburg

Museum of Now – In The Search Of Now

Exhibition

Museum of Now – In The Search Of Now

The Museum of Now (MON) opened its doors for the first time on October 17 with the Berlin Edition. The travelling museum presented 15 artists from all over the world in a show of about 100 artworks – from spectacular, large-scale light installations to miniature works in oil on canvas. Together with the Estrel Hotel Berlin and the Berlin Art Society, YAP presented the “Museum of Now” for ten days in an impressive 1920s industrial factory building in Neukölln. In the process, as producers of the overall show, we took care of the operation and the production of the impressive works on site, creating the highlight of the Berlin scene this year.

Client
Berlin Art Society / YAP Studio

Project
In The Search Of Now

Artist
Amoako Boafo, Denis Haračić, Deus Ex Lumina, Marius Glauer, Maximiliano León, Nour Shantout, Olek, O’Mom, Pasha Cas, Robert Elfgen,  Susanne Rottenbacher, The Krank, TpT, Valentyn Odnoviun, Viktor Frešo

Curator
Denis Leo Hegic, Michelle Houston, Jan Gustav Fiedler, Katia Hermann

Service

  • Project Management
  • Production
  • Art Handling
  • Artist Management

Year
2019

Place
Berlin-Neukölln

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Disassembly // Susanne Rottenbacher

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Curators: Jan Fiedler, Michelle Houston and Denis Leo Hegic

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Art Performce // Agata Olek

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Surveillance // Valentyn Odnoviun

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Ping_Pong // Tpt and The Krank

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Red Star // TpT

Photos ©Ben Gross