DE-CONSTRUCT TO CONSTRUCT
This chapter encourages us to reflect on the intricate interplay between human behavior and the urban landscape, and reimagines deconstruction as a creative force. Rooted in graffiti, artists repurpose urban elements, turning overlooked aspects of the cityscape into profound artworks. By infusing destruction with new aesthetic significance, they elevate the mundane into emblematic representations of city life.
By challenging conventional views of destruction and transformation, artists reveal hidden beauty in overlooked objects. Creating from elements of the city fabric, they engage in a game of appropriation and reappropriation that allows us to see familiar objects in a new light. This chapter invites you to explore the unexpected possibilities that emerge when we break down the familiar to construct something new. Here, we witness how breaking down the old can open up new avenues for creativity, innovation, and expression.
Introduction
This chapter is about changing our view of everyday life and the familiar things around us. What happens when we take something ordinary apart in order to create something completely new? Art often plays with this apparent contradiction: deconstruction or even destruction can unleash a creative force and that brings forth something new and positive.
These artists with roots in a graffiti practice use urban and architectural elements in radically new ways: they transform little-seen parts of the cityscape into meaningful works of art. All of this allows us to see familiar objects and symbols in a new light.
These works show us that there are no fixed rules in art, and that when we take something apart, we just might find something beautiful.
Moses & Taps
What are the trademarks of Moses & Taps? Cool cyan blue and bright yellow, combined with the abbreviation TM, which stands for Trademark and Taps-Moses. The two German graffiti artists teamed up in 2007, breaking new ground stylistically and conceptually. Their art can be found in many places—from trains and railroad stations to urban corners around the world.
With a pinch of satire and a conceptual approach, Moses & Taps play with symbols and lettering from railway signage, producing humorous masterpieces from them. But how can the spirit of making art outside be brought into the museum space? Their latest work, PostGraffiti, allows just this to happen.
Created especially for our exhibition, it takes up the principle of their folded graffiti works. Originally inspired by the tarpaulins of covered freight cars in their SHIMMS series, they have now applied this idea to a parcel delivery truck. The work Post-Graffiti is an impressive example of how graffiti can be integrated into people’s everyday lives. In times when online orders are booming, the parcel-delivery truck brings graffiti directly to your home. So, next time you receive a parcel, keep your eyes open—you might discover a premium graffiti work from Taps & Moses outside. Art is everywhere, you just have to look out for it!
And one more thing: their first book, INTERNATIONAL TOPSPRAYER, published in 2011, is Germany’s top-selling graffiti book—an absolute must-have for anyone interested in this art form.
Vhils
Vhils has developed a unique visual language using unconventional tools: hammer, chisel, drill and even explosives! Born in Lisbon in 1987, Vhils is an artist whose artistic practice involves removing layers instead of adding them. He carves surfaces layer by layer, shaping the artwork bit by bit.
Vhils started graffiti at the age of thirteen, inspired by the rapid urban changes in his hometown. During his studies in London, he experimented with many other techniques and media. Eventually he arrived at his current approach: to destroy in order to create, as he puts it. His signature “mural sculptures” seem to literally grow out of the walls.
Vhils has realized works in over thirty countries; he is concerned with the identity of the respective place and its people. He deals critically with the loss of individuality in today’s cities. Many of his portraits show anonymous people, and in this way he lends them a special kind of visibility.
You can see an example from his Scratching the Surface series here. This wall portrait was created directly on site in 2015 before the museum opened. For several years, it was hidden behind cabinets.
You’ll find another striking work by Vhils in the museum’s courtyard. The Diorama sculpture was created in 2017 by molding concrete in a cast. More than thirty people were involved in the making of this work. The video in our media guide gives you an insight into this extraordinary process.
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