When people think of Berlin street art, their minds inevitably focus on the East Side Gallery with its world-famous murals. But anyone who’s so much as set foot past the city’s tourist hubs knows just about every building here has been colourfully decorated, featuring anything from jaw-dropping paintings to that person who keeps writing ‘CLiT’ all over everything.
In fact, you may notice quite a few recurring tags popping up on your daily commute, whether you’re making your way through Mitte or Marzahn. But to keep track of it all, it helps to know what exactly you’re looking at.
So what should you look out for in Berlin’s street art scene? From colourful dots to quirky characters, here’s a rundown of some prevalent pieces you can spot throughout the city – and who’s behind them.
Berlin Kidz
Of all Berlin’s street art icons, Berlin Kidz are probably the most well-known. And even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve definitely seen their art around. One of a kind and larger than life, the group’s distinctive vertical Brazilian pichação lettering can be found all over the city, sometimes spanning the length of entire buildings from top to bottom.
But as if that wasn’t crazy enough, the crew is also known for pulling risky stunts like train-surfing. Of course, that constitutes highly dangerous (and illegal) behaviour that we would never ever endorse – even though it is, objectively speaking, extremely sick. Just don’t try it yourself.
Unicorns by Roy Draws
If you’ve spent any time in Kreuzberg or Neukölln, you’ve probably spotted some friendly equine faces musing about the important things in life, with phrases like “techno is shit” (true) and “you look great” (questionable). These quirky unicorns are the work of Roy Draws, a street artist that first stepped onto the scene in 2017. Now, his tags have gotten so recognisable that he’s selling merch of them. After all, who can resist those cute little faces?
- Get your own Unicorn Gang merch at roydraws.com and follow on Instagram.
1UP
This crew has a spot in the Berlin graffiti hall of fame, right next to Berlin Kidz (who they’ve actually collaborated with in the past). 1UP is one of the city’s most prolific groups of street artists, their signature tag popping up on thousands of surfaces – including ones that’ll have you scratching your head trying to figure out how they even got up there, and even the occasional moving U-Bahn car.
But that implicit one-upmanship isn’t actually where their name comes from, nor is it an on-the-nose Super Mario reference. The name actually stands for One United Power, a signal of unity that’s reflected in their more political pieces.
- Follow 1UP Crew on Instagram.
CMYK dots
Blink and you’ll miss them, but once you spot them, you’ll start seeing them everywhere: CMYK dots constitute some of Berlin’s most pervasive street art – and its simplest. Rather than spray paint, OKSE126 creates these eye-catching circles with styrofoam using the four colours of print (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key) before pasting them up around the city.
What started as a goal to put up 1000 dots across 100 cities in 10 countries in 2016 has continued to be an ongoing passion long after he met his quota in 2021. And Berlin is 1000 times more colourful for it.
Street yogis and Korkmӓnnchen
Next time you’re trying to navigate your way through the city, pay attention to what’s sitting on top of the street signs rather than what’s written on them: You may just spot a tiny figure striking a pose. While these quirky cork dolls won’t be able to give you directions, they’re sure to put a smile on your face.
These delightful little fellas come from two possible sources. One is a yoga trainer known as Joy Fox, who was inspired by London street artist Slinkachu’s project Little People in the City. Except rather than placing plastic figures around town, Fox makes his miniature yogis out of corks, each one in a different yoga or dance pose.
But there’s another possible source for your local cork figures: Alte Wilde Korkmännchen. The key difference between their work and Fox’s is that these little guys tend to be carrying tiny flags with the logo of the booster club of a Kita called ‘Alte Wilde’ – an association that the artist was once part of. They’re not just for decoration, though: Some Korkmännchen use them for flag semaphore.
- Follow Alte Wilde Korkmännchen on Instagram or check out their homepage.
- For more info on Street Yogis, visit Joy Fox’s website.
ROA
Definitely more morbid than the rest of the artists on this list, but just as impressive: ROA became one of the world’s most well-known street artists by creating large-scale murals of animals – often dead ones.
Evidently, the artist’s macabre fascination stems from childhood, when he first developed an interest in and began sketching animal skeletons. Now, his style is fully-fledged and characterised by morbid realism that he uses to paint deer, rats, and other animals native to the regions he paints in.
- Follow ROA on Facebook.
BioGang
This group may not be the most well-known, but they’re a personal favourite of ours. After all, the idea of a band of vandals who have an irrepressible passion for organic produce is just objectively hilarious, not to mention wholesome.
Their tags are easily recognisable – they mainly draw carrots and broccolis with cute little spirals for eyes that make them look a bit like they may have been cooked with a little too much wine. But arguably the coolest thing about the crew is that they go out of their way to cover up far right graffiti. Organic and anti fascist – how Berlin is that?
- Follow Bio Gang on Instagram.
CLiT
This is probably the most elusive of the artists on this list. Nobody knows who they are, or even if they’re a group or a solo act. Their habit of spraying the word ‘clit’ all over the city certainly raises more questions than answers.
Is it a neo-Dadaist statement on the futility of searching for meaning in art? Are they satirising the rampant objectification of women in patriarchal society? Is the omnipresence of the tag a metacommentary on the irony of men’s inability to locate this fairly obvious facet of female anatomy? Or are they just doing it for the bit?
Maybe these questions are better left unanswered. Art, after all, is a bit like humour, in that over-explaining it sort of takes some of the magic away. So whoever this mystery artist is and whatever their purpose, we can all still appreciate their many, many contributions to our colourful urban landscape.
- Follow clit_unofficial on Instagram.
