4th UrbanArt Biennale® at World Heritage Site Völklinger Ironworks

100 artists, over 150 works from 17 countries and 4 continents at the World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte

By State Chancellery Saarland

Staatskanzlei Saarland

Entrance exhibition hall Möllerhalle (2017)State Chancellery Saarland

UrbanArt at a special location

The leading global urban art biennale at one of the world’s most fascinating locations: The 4th UrbanArt Biennale® at the World Cultural Heritage Site Völklinger Ironworks presents 100 artists with 150 artworks from 17 countries and 4 continents. The exhibition exemplifies the 21st-century art form that emerged from graffiti. This year’s focus are works from South America.

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The Burden Hall

The central exhibition hall of the 4th UrbanArt Biennale® 2017 is the 100,000-square-meter Burden Hall (Möllerhalle), so to speak the "belly of the hut", built in the early 20th century. In this once-largest concrete plant, the raw materials of the actual blast furnace filling were stored. The “Möller”, the mixture for the blast furnace, consisted of ore, sinter, scrap and lime. The the red-brown iron ore stained the concrete walls and gives the hall a unique atmosphere.

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The entrance

At the entrance you can see the tapered collecting bins. At the end there are filling mechanisms with slides. When the workers opened the slides, the material shot into the trailer truck. Approximately 15 workers worked in this loud, draughty and extremely dusty place. 12,000 tons of material were stored in the 20 collecting bins of the Burden Hall. The raw materials were transported by rail. The railway tracks are still clearly visible. The loading of the material from a certain height filled the hall with ore dust.

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Entrance of the Burden Hall

Hauptportal (2016) by BananensprayerState Chancellery Saarland

Hauptportal, Thomas Baumgärtel

Thomas Baumgärtel, better known “The Banana Sprayer”, has been producing stencil graffiti since the 1980s. The Pochoriste genre communicates critical social commentary. Baumgärtel is no different. Alone his choice of motif – “Alles Banane” (“It’s all nonsense!”), reflects his rebellious attitude.

USAPE (2017) by BananensprayerState Chancellery Saarland

USAPE, Thomas Baumgärtel

46 (2015) by Anders GjennestadState Chancellery Saarland

46, Anders Gjennestad

Gjennestad works with stencils inspired by his own photographs. His trick is to turn the vertical walls behind his murals into horizontal surfaces replete with long, skewed shadows.

The jungle behind the wall (2017) by Les Francs ColleursState Chancellery Saarland

The jungle behind the wall, Les Francs Colleurs

Les Francs Colleurs is a common project run by artist collective 9ème Concept, which was founded in 1990 by Ned, Jerk 45, and Stéphane Carricondo. There is also a state-of-the-art "Les Francs Colleurs“ augmented-reality application, which enables observers to use their smartphones to animate the motifs.

Prove Your'Re Not A Robot (2016) by VladyState Chancellery Saarland

Prove you'Re not a robot, Vlady

Vlady, also known as Vladyart, poses us a difficult challenge: Prove you're not a robot. Vlady sometimes covers entire buildings with his creations, which rather than conveying a particular writing style, look more like squatter slogans.

Are greater than fear (2017) by Shepard FaireyState Chancellery Saarland

Are greater than fear, Shepard Fairey

The adage "What you see is what you get" applies to Fairey, who is probably the most famous urban artist in the USA. His long-term commitment to unironic political posters is evidence of his belief in the truth and importance of his mission. Make art – not war!

Black is beautiful (2014) by Jef AérosolState Chancellery Saarland

Black is beautiful, Jef Aérosol

Jean-François Perroy alias Jef Aerosol is a protagonist of the original French Pochoir movement, which is massively quoted in the young Street Art of today. "Vite Fait, Bien Fait” is 1986 the first publication on this kind of art or rather, culture of rebellion.

Black mass (2015) by Érik LacanState Chancellery Saarland

Black mass, Éric Lacan

Black mass. An allusion to a body of matter or to a church celebration, we wonder? Éric Lacan remains true to himself with this captivating rendering of floral occultism.

Black mass, Éric Lacan

His canvas is sewn to the frame with black thread, a technique that calls forth associations with sewn-up wounds.

145 All Saints road, St. John's, Antigua (2016) by TiltState Chancellery Saarland

145 All Saints road, St. John's, Antigua, Tilt

A native of Toulouse, Tilt is known for his love of experimentation and his jovial disregard for genre boundaries. Today, he still works with letters – mostly in the form of simple but flashy throw-ups and bubble letters. But Tilt is often going entirely against the grain to give traditional forms a whole new slant.

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The Gallery

They spray graffiti on facades, paint stencils on walls and paste huge wall surfaces all over with paper collages. Their art is rebellious, unsettling, pleasing and popular. Since around the turn of the millennium a new art movement has formed worldwide and has become an indispensible part of the contemporary art world.

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The Gallery

Ruth (2014) by David WalkerState Chancellery Saarland

Ruth, David Walker

David Walker's work focuses mostly on the female face. For a few years he worked only in black and white, but at some point rediscovered colors. Today, his images are bursting with every imaginable color. When he started, he copied pictures from magazines, today he photographs his models himself.

Without title (2016) by JaceState Chancellery Saarland

(no title), Jace

Gouzou, a little pictographic figure, is Jace's alter ego. This picture invokes the Lady Justice allegory. Two types of artist are being weighed...

The the illegal sprayer on the left...

...and on the right, the artist who produces work for the market. Jace sees himself as caught between these two stools.

The Seven Deadly Sins (2017) by Buff MonsterState Chancellery Saarland

The Seven Deadly Sins, Buff Monster

Buff Monster follows more in the tradition of pop street art than graffiti. Buff Monster is turning everything he touches into what he loves most: one-eyed blobby heads, usually made of melting pink ice cream. His influences range from heavy metal and pop art to kitsch.

Pingui lips stik (2016) by BlaState Chancellery Saarland

Pingui lips stik, Bla

Bla is a veteran of the billboard takeover tradition. His billboard redesigns radiate the spirit of a strongly self-empowered underground culture. The artist is a master of visual confusion. One thing we can determine is that many of his images feature an eye, and that this optical organ is therefore of central importance in his work.

Can't stand still 2 (2017) by SatOne | Rafael GerlachState Chancellery Saarland

Can't stand still 2, SatOne

Rafael Gerlach, aka SatOne, has deployed his own version of tonal separation in his latest murals, while on canvas he experiments with painting methods such as extreme abstraction, blurring, and (real) transparency. The faux transparency of his pictures often recalls computer graphics.

Please Love Me (2014) by Jasmin Siddiqui, Falk LehmannState Chancellery Saarland

Please love me, Jasmin Siddiqui und Falk Lehmann

Jasmin Siddiqui and Falk Lehmann had each made their own unique contributions to graffiti art when they worked separately under the pseudonyms Hera and Akut. She painted walls in her unusual sketch-like illustrative style. He was a member of MaClaim, a crew that created hip-hop images based on painstaking reproductions of photographs.

They Used To Do It In The Clubs (2016) by Mode 2State Chancellery Saarland

They Used To Do It In The Clubs, Mode 2

The early work of Mauritian-born Mode 2 raised the bar for European graffiti more than any other artist of the time. Today, Mode 2's work points in the opposite direction: retrospection, nostalgia. Firmly figurative work shot through with muted colors takes a hazy look back at a golden age.

Gold fox (vulpes vulpes) (2017) by DZIAState Chancellery Saarland

Gold fox, DZIA

Animals are clearly DZIA's thing. His slogan: "Paint like a lion, fight like a tiger, think like a fox." This young urban artist combines the classic subjects of street art murals, i.e., big animals, with an intense graphic style characterized by a dynamic flurry of lines. His focus is clearly not on producing realistic renderings, but rather on expressing structure and movement.

Lyrics (2016) by TancState Chancellery Saarland

Lyrics, Tanc

Tancrède Perrot attaches great importance to being both artist-as-writer and writer-as-artist. Sometimes, the deep connection between these apparent opposites becomes clear, and a canvas dripping with writing miraculously transforms into a work of abstract expressionism.

Onde de Choc 10 (2015) by ShakaState Chancellery Saarland

Onde de Choc 10, Shaka

Shaka, is influenced by the 3-D street art of the 1990s, only that his original take on this style results in surprisingly figurative pieces. "Onde de choc 10" is rendered in various hues of gray and features a head against a dark background. While we cannot tell what the creature is exactly, we can clearly feel the antagonistic energies that the artist lays bare.

Espress Akha (2017) by YZState Chancellery Saarland

Empress Akha, YZ

Eyes, phonetically coded as YZ, the emphasis is on seeing. In her current work, YZ focuses on strong women, amazons, female warriors.

Empress Akinyi (2017) by YZState Chancellery Saarland

Empress Akinyi, YZ

While her characters appear invincible, the material YZ portrays them on is highly fragile.She adds real pieces of metal as embellishments.

Oberkampf (diptyque) (2016) by Jan KalábState Chancellery Saarland

Oberkampf, Jan Kaláb

Jan Kaláb, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts Prague and cofounder of Trafačka, an avant-garde art space. The artist presents a blob-like acrylic painting. The title: "Oberkampf", an allusion to one of the initiators of the industrial age and to the metro station in Paris.

Observatoire, Chronos, Candelabre (2016) by MonkeyBirdState Chancellery Saarland

Observatoire, Chronos, Candelabre, MonkeyBird

MonkeyBird's imagery has a nostalgic air about it, featuring delicate black and white graphics reminiscent of old scientific drawings. The artists' choices of background, i.e. old wooden doors and various other objects with antique patinas, are therefore particularly befitting.

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The Large Stage

Urban art and street art are rooted in the graffiti movement that emerged in the 1970s in New York andPhiladelphia, which in turn originated in the American youth movements of the 1960s. Whatbegan in the late 1960s with youths spraying signs onto buildings and subway cars in theNew York borough of the Bronx would go on to become a fervent artistic movement. "Armed"with spray cans, street gangs and individual writers would mark their territories with tags –signs left behind on public spaces.

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Large Stage

Ceca (2017) by CT | Matteo Ceretto CastiglianoState Chancellery Saarland

Ceca, CT

CT translates the fundamentals of graffiti writing into minimalistic paintings. However, he doesn't break away from letters entirely. He uses as few of them impossible: CT. Using these two letters as templates, he develops logo-like basic shapes, which he then combines to create vast hard-edged interventions.

Fruit of the Doom (2016) by LudoState Chancellery Saarland

Fruit of the Doom, Ludos

This image resembles a still life. But the devil is in the detail: all these fruits are symbols of vanitas and violence, such as a scythe (the leaf on the apple's stem), skulls (the prominent grapes), and a barrel of a machine gun (protruding from the banana in the foreground). Everything is rendered in Ludo's characteristic shade of gray/bilious green.

Second Chance (2016) by RekaState Chancellery Saarland

Second Chance, Reka

Australian artist Reka's development has seen him go from spray-painting colorful figures somewhere between graffiti characters and street art style to creating South America-inspired murals and painting highly abstract motifs on canvas. But he is always careful to clearly incorporate the character of spray painting.

Queen of the Zebra Palace (2016) by OkudaState Chancellery Saarland

Queen of the Zebra Palace, Okuda

For some people, Okuda is the Michelangelo of the modern age. At least one of his works – an entire church nave – is worthy of the comparison. Okuda has produced countless murals, but has also worked on sculptures and underground trains. His work on trains was at the invitation of the Kiev metro network and therefore entirely legal, which is rather unusual for graffiti artists.

Infinity blasts (2017) by Thomas CantoState Chancellery Saarland

Infinity blasts, Thomas Canto

For a painter who works with three-dimensional structures – namely the urban architecture of modern cities – it is only logical to extend the image area into the surrounding space. Thomas Canto combines his panel paintings with leading lines and vanishing points rendered in nylon.

Black Marble (2016) by L‘AtlasState Chancellery Saarland

Black Marble, L'Atlas

The work of L'Atlas is based on labyrinthine ornamental pictures. These, in turn, are based on calligraphy, Kufic script (a kind of Arabic Helvetica), and, of course, graffiti. In his more recent work L'Atlas has focused less on the form itself, and more on its inner life, or "fill-in".

Thunder Cats (Triptychon) (2016) by NychosState Chancellery Saarland

Thunder Cats, Nychos

Sharks, SpongeBob, and the occasional white rabbit: these are the creatures on which Nychos performs his masterful dissections. Nychos's vibrant Dance of the Death rendered in Las Vegas-like neon colors have garnered him one-of-a-kind status and a place among the upper echelons of European pop surrealists.

Broken Circle Theory (2017) by SWIZState Chancellery Saarland

Broken Circle Theorie, SWIZ

SWIZ is now happiest painting in abandoned buildings
– in the zone between the prohibited and the permitted, between the visible and the invisible. His style is characterized by geometric forms, by horizontals, verticals, diagonals and circles – basic elements that can be combined in an endless variety of ways. Subtly nuanced color tones are extremely important to him.

Atome (2015) by Benjamin LaadingState Chancellery Saarland

Atome, Benjamin Laading

Aerosol: a mixture of particles suspended in gas. Benjamin Laading sprays incredibly precise galaxies of particles, using a fat cap – a type of nozzle particularly suited for large surfaces – to "bomb" these images on to urban walls.

Optichromie 84 (2017) by Felipe PantoneState Chancellery Saarland

Optichromie 84, Felipe Pantone

Felipe Pantone is the graffiti mural scene's Captain (Retro-)Future. His imagery is ideally suited to the fast-paced click culture and visual hype of social networks. Superficially perfect, Felipe Pantone's work provides his numerous followers with a visual soundtrack to a digitalized world full of errors.

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The Small Stage

Many of today's street art greats cite this "do-it-yourself" philosophy as a source of influence. Its roots lie in the graffiti hype of 1970s New York, in the subcultural movement that, with its tags, pieces, getting ups, styles, stencils, posters and billboards, stimulated a creative re-setting of public spaces. The movement clearly hit a nerve elsewhere too. With breathtaking speed, urban artists all over the world began covering their cities with their audacious pictorial concepts.

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The Small Stage

Electrochoc (2017) by MamboState Chancellery Saarland

Electrochoc, Mambo

The colorful mess is pervaded with urban art's key visual signal: the drip. Mambo has given the object a dramatic floating shadow and has constructed the entire work as a piece, the standard structure in pictorial graffiti.

200217-12:48 (2017) by MadCState Chancellery Saarland

200217-12:48, MadC

MadC's main focus is on creating canvasses. Her 2- meter by 2-meter work "200217-12:48" represents her journey from writing to abstraction. Vibrantly colored glazes and transparency effects combined with precise splashes of paint and her trademark calligraphic swoops.

SN2013F (2013) by Smash137State Chancellery Saarland

SN2013F, Smash137

Smash137 liberates writing pieces on canvas in two respects. Firstly, he breaks with the convention of depicting a name, and secondly, he foregrounds the direct dynamism of the initial line without overlaying it with further embellishment.

Al borde del abismo (2016) by VermibusState Chancellery Saarland

Al borde del abismo, Vermibus

Vermibus ist ein ist ein Ad-dissolver. Mit einem Nachschlüssel öffnet der Künstler die Leuchtboxen an Bushaltestellen und ähnlichen Orten, bringt die bedruckten Poster in sein Atelier, nimmt Lösungsmittel und die Pigmente der Werbefotos lösen sich auf. Heimlich hängt er die Poster wieder auf und schließt sie ein.

I want to run away (2016) by VermibusState Chancellery Saarland

I want to run away, Vermibus

Vermibus ist ein ist ein Ad-dissolver. Mit einem Nachschlüssel öffnet der Künstler die Leuchtboxen an Bushaltestellen und ähnlichen Orten, bringt die bedruckten Poster in sein Atelier, nimmt Lösungsmittel und die Pigmente der Werbefotos lösen sich auf. Heimlich hängt er die Poster wieder auf und schließt sie ein.

NAWER X SICOER | SIGNALS (2016) by NawerState Chancellery Saarland

NAWER X SICOER | SIGNALS, Nawer

Nawer is not only a street artist and designer, but also a qualified architect and urbanist with a degree. While most of his works, whether murals or canvasses, are neoconstructivist compositions painted in the tradition of Dutch Masters such as Zedz and Delta, the piece on show here, with its horizontal, layered arrangement, is more austere, more experimental.

Sunny Break (2017) by OXState Chancellery Saarland

Sunny Break, OX

OX, one of the first ad-busters, once explained, "it's all about aesthetics, about the production of emotions that don't necessarily need explaining". Even in the selection of his alias, OX applied aesthetic principles: the O is a circle and the X is two crossed lines, "both forms are symmetrical, both reversible".

L'Impératrice du moment présent (2015) by Stéphane MoscatoState Chancellery Saarland

L'Impératrice du moment présent, Stéphane Moscato

Street art's modus operandi is usually to place unbidden images on the street. Stéphane Moscato's MO works in the other direction: he removes images from the streets and brings them home. He takes torn pieces of posters, reassembles them, and combines them with sprayed stencils.

Basquiat (2014) by Jef AérosolState Chancellery Saarland

Basquiat, Jef Aérosol

Jean-François Perroy alias Jef Aerosol is, as his contemporary colleagues Blek le Rat or Miss Tic, is a protagonist of the original French Pochoir movement, which is massively quoted in the young Street Art of today. "Vite Fait, Bien Fait” 1986 (“quickly made is well made”) is the first publication on this kind of art or rather, culture of rebellion, for which Perroy provided the cover picture.

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Counting Fingers (2015) by Robert ProchState Chancellery Saarland

Counting Finger, Robert Proch

"Counting Fingers" guides the observer along the border between dream and reality. Hypnagogic hallucinations of this intermediate world, a world that played such a prominent role in Dalí's work. Fragments of reclining figures are shot through with abstract, dreamlike light to create an effect that is more associative than narrative.

Dragan (2017) by Layer CakeState Chancellery Saarland

Dragan, Layer Cake

Patrick Hartl's writing elements are suffused and overlaid by Christian Hundertmark's (C100) hardedged floating fields. The resulting works convey great depth and are a fusion of lines and letters, of solid colors and coverings, of explosions and upheaval. Traditional topics.

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Entrance to the Small Gallery

Due to the global interconnectedness of contemporary UrbanArt, it has become almost impossibleto find artists and styles that can be regarded as representatives of specific countries. Today, there is perhaps only one region in the world where it is still possible to immediately identify where most of the street artists come from: Latin America. This "continent's" UrbanArt draws heavily from its rich and historically unique cultural-visual heritage.

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Entrance to the Small Gallery

Bhaktapur girls (2017) by StinkfishState Chancellery Saarland

Bhaktapur Girls, Stinkfish

Stinkfish's huge handstyle, for which he uses a roller technique, resembles grapixo, a Latin American graffiti style that combines calligraphic features with simple, stripped-back materials. Realistic stencil portraits form the basis of Stinkfish's colorful works.

Take me out of the Bush (2016) by CranioState Chancellery Saarland

Take me out of the Bush, Cranio

Cranio means "skull", but also "smart". He uses it to represent the fate of Brazil's indigenous peoples, who he portrays in blue. His images show them in comical situations, most of which involve confrontations with trash products from companies such as McDonald's or Red Bull.

Cururu (2016) by CranioState Chancellery Saarland

Cururu, Cranio

La Mujer Que Escucha LaRadio Desnuda (2008) by Os GêmeosState Chancellery Saarland

La Mujer Que Escucha LaRadio Desnuda, Os Gêmeos

Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo were born with their shared pseudonym: Os Gêmeos – the twins. Under this name, they took the graffiti and art worlds by storm as their distinctive style made them the most important and influential graffiti artists of their generation.

Virgen Ruda (2017) by WandapotState Chancellery Saarland

Virgen Ruda, Wandapot

Wandapot is known for his nostalgia-inspiring calligraphy and his murals created using decorative stencils evocative of Portuguese tiles. He connects the aforementioned elements with sketched portraits and comic book figures. Wandapot calls this combination style "punk surrealism".

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The Small Gallery

Graffiti writing and the hip-hop movement arrived in Latin America at around the same time these phenomena hit the world's other continents: the 1980s. At first, graffiti held a fascinatingly exotic appeal. Books, films, and magazines providing information about graffiti were harder to come by than in Europe. But the lack of knowledge was also a blessing: The first generations found their own language faster than elsewhere.

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Small Gallery

I am on a Diet (2017) by CranioState Chancellery Saarland

I am on a diat, Cranio

Like any ordinary UrbanArt artist from São Paulo, Cranio has chosen a typical recognition color for his characters. In his case, it's blue. Between the yellow of Os Gêmeos and the green of Finok, he has thus secured an important niche. He admits openly his admiration for both artists.

DES I (2016) by MelimState Chancellery Saarland

DES I, Melim

Melim places his stencil images within fields on his canvas, superimposing range of figures and text fragments in a manner reminiscent of printing techniques. He succeeds in achieving what is mistakenly said of many graffiti artists: it really looks like a random piece of street.

DES II (2016) by MelimState Chancellery Saarland

DES II, Melim

A study about walls (2017) by SubtuState Chancellery Saarland

A study about walls, Subtu

Subtu's trademark is a monkey. The monkey's depiction here, with his fingers clasping the edges of the hole, is reminiscent of one icon of graffiti history: "Kilroy was here", Kilroy being the obscure Second World War figure that was often found cheekily peering over imaginary walls.

Ganado (2016) by Franco FasoliState Chancellery Saarland

Ganado, Franco Fasoli

On canvas, Fasoli still dedicates himself to public art, albeit of a different type. He paints scenes he comes across in Argentina's towns and cities. The title is ambiguous. Ganado, which is Spanish for cattle, is also the slang term for the mob.

Vintetribos solares (2016) by ChamarelliState Chancellery Saarland

Vintetribos solares, Chamarelli

Fernando Chamarelli is an artist, illustrator, and trained graphic designer. His influences include comics, cartoons, street art and urban art, and, most importantly of all, the exuberant contrasts in the colors and music of his native Brazil. Chamarelli is also an experienced muralist.

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Chapter 4: Cooling of the Sun (2016) by CuriotState Chancellery Saarland

Cooling of the sun, Curiot

Curiot combines international street art with elements from Mexican folklore. His imagery today is characterized by geometric designs and mythical hybrid creatures with claws, feathers, and masks. Observers will notice a forbidding sense of cold emanating from it, because the sun is cooling down.

As Sete Estações’ (2017) by Raphael Sagarra | FinokState Chancellery Saarland

As Sete Estações’, Raphael Sagarra I Finok

Finok combines subcultural influences with the traditions of Brazilian folk art. He reproduces the homemade paper kites and balloons of his youth and invokes the patterns of local wickerwork and the renowned Portuguese-Brazilian wall tiles.

3 compressions (2017) by NevercrewState Chancellery Saarland

3 compressions, Nevercrew

The duo likes to graphically juxtapose color with monochrome, and their strikingly inventive images are saturated with illusionistic effects. Reflections, chrome surfaces, images wrapped around corners, shadows extending into the observer's space – anything goes, as long as it heightens the effect.

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The Fan Hall

Since 2011 – the year in which we put on the very first UrbanArt Biennale® at the Völklinger Ironhut World Heritage Site, running it simultaneously with the Art in the Streets UrbanArtexhibition held by the MOCA in Los Angeles – countless UrbanArt projects have sprung up allover the world. However, today works of UrbanArt no longer comprise artist-inspired interventions in the urban sphere, but more often are initiated by municipal strategists who want to revitalize city neighborhoods.

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The Fan Hall

Coincidences n°2 (2016) by Iacurci AgostinoState Chancellery Saarland

Coincidences n°2, Agostino Iacurci

Huge animals, graphic figurative work, abstract scenarios with a surreal flavor: Agostino Iacuri can meet many of the expectations associated with urban art. However, the artist truly comes into his own when focusing on a rather different subject: vases, potted plants, and the like, which he paints in equally bombastic forms around cities.

Diesseits und Jenseits (2015) by Christoph RodeState Chancellery Saarland

Diesseits und Jenseits, Christoph Rode

It's easy to see why Christoph Rode inspires so many art historical references. The MOZ (Märkische Onlinezeitung) newspaper described a series of his works as a "mix of Edward Hopper, Neue Leipziger Schule, and graphic novel" while also recognizing in his style the influence of Bernhard Heisig, hero of the socialist art movement.

Marrakech 2 (2015) by ResoState Chancellery Saarland

Marrakesh 2, Reso

Reso's, aka Cédric Lascours, canvas is something he calls "supports mobiles" (mobile bases). Comprising shabby strips of canvas painted with graffiti fragments, they look like urban relicts. A tribute to the ephemeral nature of graffiti.

Chaos Theory I-VI (2016) by FAITH XLVIIState Chancellery Saarland

Chaos Theory I-VI, FAITH XLVII

FAITH XLVII is best known for her monumental facade murals. But FAITH XLVII's latest direction seems to question, or at least put into perspective, this tradition. Her use of coffee grounds, ink, and yarn on paper in her "Chaos Theory I-VI" series is highly unusual in the genre.

ACAB - All Chicken Are Beautiful (2016) by Won ABCState Chancellery Saarland

ACAB - All Chicken Are Beautiful, Won ABC

In his series "All Chicken Are Beautiful", Won ABC, aka Markus Müller, returns to the extreme social critique of his early days, a critique situated somewhere between kitsch and cataclysm. ACAB – an art hooligan best described as a "color kamikaze".

Es war einmal... (2015) by TASSOState Chancellery Saarland

Es war einmal, TASSO

Jens Müller, aka TASSO, is a veteran of the East German graffiti scene. Even before the wall came down, he was out on the streets, illegally scrawling punk slogans and band names on walls. When he received his first hundred Westmark, he bought a big fat marker pen. TASSO still paints with spray paints today, albeit mainly on canvas.

Marrakech 1 (2015) by ResoState Chancellery Saarland

Marrakech 1, Reso

Reso's, aka Cédric Lascours, canvas is something he calls "supports mobiles" (mobile bases). Comprising shabby strips of canvas painted with graffiti fragments, they look like urban relicts. A tribute to the ephemeral nature of graffiti.

"The inSight of sideOut" (2014) by Daniel ManState Chancellery Saarland

The inSight of sideOut, Daniel Man

Man is part of the graffiti network, and it is part of him. Like all artists, Man is interested in systems and structures, a relationship he explores in a diagrammatic drawing. The exciting yet logical process of creating this work will continue during the ® UrbanArt Biennale 2017.

Ephémère (2012) by Gérard ZlotykamienState Chancellery Saarland

Ephémère, Gérard Zlotykamien

Gérard Zlotykamien's figures in public spaces placed him at the vanguard of modern street art. These figures may have seemed at first as if they were drawn by a child. However, there was nothing joyful or hopeful about Zlotykamien's "Éphémères", holloweyed shadow creatures staring out from desolate urban walls.

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The Social Room at the Sinter Plant

The social room in the sinter plant was the washroom of the "Filler". “Fillers” are workers who loaded ores, sinter and lime stored at the Burden Hall into the overhead trolley car for the filling of the blast furnaces. They worked around the clock, at any time of the day or season. The filling of the hanging trolley cars in the cold, draughty and loud Burden Hall was not only physically demanding but  also a danger for health due to dust and dirt.

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The Social Room at the Sinter Plant

Toxic Mary (double) (2003) by BanksyState Chancellery Saarland

Toxic Mary, Banksy

With the emergence of "Banksy", the concept of street art was both reinvented and brought to collapse. Like sweet poison served by a person(a) we know, or like an (un)holy war with our assumptions in the cross hairs. "Banksy" is also a veritable media masterpiece. The greatest there ever was.

David on Wood (2016) by Blek le RatState Chancellery Saarland

David on Wood, Blek le Rat

Blek le Rat is the inventor of modern stencil graffiti. He occasionally works with images from art history, which he likes to give a modern, somewhat shocking twist. The faux wood fence together with the minimalist stencil enables him to evoke the rebellious graffiti of his wild days.

Circle Study (2015) by Jordan SeilerState Chancellery Saarland

Circle Study, Jordan Seiler

Seiler's approach, which involves inserting reduced
geometric forms into outdoor spaces, might be
described as an updated version of Daniel Buren's experiments. Some of Seiler's stripes are horizontal or diagonal, while others are curved, jagged, or even blurred. What is most notable, however, is the manner in which Seiler's "PublicAdCampaign" has created an additional virtual plane for our times, a second life for interventions.

FragmentsMelancholy Wasteland #7 | #8 (unknown) by Ian Kuali‘iState Chancellery Saarland

FragmentsMelancholy Wasteland #7 | #8, Ian Kuali‘i

Kuali'i's inspirations range from the cultures of his Indian ancestors and hip hop through occult symbolism and mysticism to global politics and urban decay. A collage aesthetic is the obvious choice for bringing together these very diverse influences.

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Fomo (2016) by ReroState Chancellery Saarland

Fomo, Rero

The works of many contemporary avant garde graffiti artists operate on a conceptual level, though their appearance may initially suggest otherwise. Rero takes the opposite approach. His paintings are clearly influenced by the aesthetics of conceptual art.

Dissident (2015) by AliasState Chancellery Saarland

Dissident, Alias

Alias creates multilayered figurative stencils and places them on walls. Sometimes he sprays directly onto the walls, while at other times he first sprays onto pieces of paper, which he then attaches to the walls. In his studio he reproduces these motifs as canvases. Most often Alias's work centers on children, who are usually alone and appear somewhat resigned.

You know you are right… (2016) by ReroState Chancellery Saarland

You know you are right, Rero

The works of many contemporary avant garde graffiti artists operate on a conceptual level, though their appearance may initially suggest otherwise. Rero takes the opposite approach. His paintings are clearly influenced by the aesthetics of conceptual art.

Chrystal (2017) by YZState Chancellery Saarland

The Paradise

The dialogue between industrial culture and nature is currently one of the most exciting artistic themes. In the "Paradise" of the World Cultural Heritage Völklinger Ironworks nature has conquered and transformed the abandoned industrial sites. Especially for the Biennale invited artist have created 20 permanent installations many of them on the grounds of the "Paradise". 

Plakatieren verboten! (2017) by OXState Chancellery Saarland

Plakatieren verboten!, OX

Soin paliatifs (2017) by LevaletState Chancellery Saarland

Soins paliatifs, Levalet

Alexandre Dá alessio (2017) by Les Francs ColleursState Chancellery Saarland

Alexandre Dá alessio, Les Francs Colleurs

Voir plus loin (2017) by LevaletState Chancellery Saarland

Voirs plus loin, Levalet

Courbe (2017) by MonkeyBirdState Chancellery Saarland

Courbe, MonkeyBird

Monkey Bird, Matthieu Dargon, Teh Blinds (2017) by Les Francs ColleursState Chancellery Saarland

MonkeyBird, Matthieu Dargon, Teh Blinds, Les Francs Colleurs

Líntrus (2017) by LevaletState Chancellery Saarland

Lintrus, Levalet

gilber Maziou (2017) by Les Francs ColleursState Chancellery Saarland

gilber Maziou, Les Francs Colleurs

Joachim Romain (2016) by TancState Chancellery Saarland

Joachim Romain, Tanc

Positive Heritage (2017) by MamboState Chancellery Saarland

Positive Heritage. Mambo

Jerk (2017) by Les Francs ColleursState Chancellery Saarland

Jerk, Les Francs Colleurs

Plan social (2016) by LevaletState Chancellery Saarland

Plan social, Levalet

Genius Generates Gates (2015) by Philippe BaudelocqueState Chancellery Saarland

Genius Generates Gates, Philippe Baudelocque

Downtown Absurdia (2015) by MamboState Chancellery Saarland

Downtown Absurdia, Mambo

no title (unknown) by VhilsState Chancellery Saarland

(ohne Titel), Vhils

Happy Yemen (2015) by Ammar Abo BakrState Chancellery Saarland

Happy Yemen, Ammar Abo Bakr

Push the bottom (2015) by M.chatState Chancellery Saarland

Push the bottom, M.chat

Germinal (2015) by Tarek BenaoumState Chancellery Saarland

Germinal, Tarek Benaoum

Rakouch Timallizene (2015) by Hendrik BeikirchState Chancellery Saarland

Rakouch Timallizene, Hendrik Beikirch

Newspaper Boy (2010) by Jef AérosolState Chancellery Saarland

Newspaper Boy, Jef Aérosol

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Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte Europäisches Zentrum für Kunst und Industriekultur GmbH
Rathausstraße 75-79, 66333 Völklingen
mail@voelklinger-huette.org
www.voelklinger-huette.org

Credits: Story

State Chancellery Saarland in cooperation with the World Heritage Site
Völklinger Ironworks
Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte Europäisches Zentrum für Kunst und Industriekultur GmbH
Rathausstraße 75-79, 66333 Völklingen
Tel: +49 (0)6898 / 9 100 100
Fax: +49 (0)6898 / 9 100 111
mail@voelklinger-huette.org
www.voelklinger-huette.org

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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