Street Art Challenge
What do the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS and Street Art have in common? Both decorate facades and house fronts with colourful art motifs, accessible to everyone. So what could be more obvious than to integrate street art into the program of the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS?
As part of the anniversary festival, E.ON launched the Street Art Challenge in 2019 and invited 14 international artists to work on the theme “Free Your Energy”. In each of the 14 countries in which the network operator is active, one artist was selected and created a unique canvas, which then set off on its journey to Berlin. Once arrived at the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS team, the screens were digitized and projected onto the facade of the Hotel de Rome as part of the popular festival. This way, millions of viewers could admire the artworks and vote online for their favorite. The winner was Fat Heat from Hungary.
From abstract forms to deceptively realistic balloon letters and wild animal motifs, visitors could marvel at a multitude of creative works of art on the façade of the famous hotel on Bebelplatz. The interpretations of the motto were as different as the styles in which they were brought to the canvases.
Some of the chosen artists from all over the world were themselves on site to view their work during the festival in Berlin.
In one of his YouTube videos, the artist Doke from Slovakia vividly documented how exactly the challenge went. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4yRn4UH2-0
For Germany Claudia Walde aka MadC took part in the Challenge. She is not only one of the most famous women of the scene, but also one of the most famous graffiti artists worldwide! MadC’s pictures are mostly characterized by vivid colors on white background. In her canvas works she mixes spray paint with acrylic and watercolor. She imitates these effects in her large wall paintings with spray can and roll. Her graffiti therefore often look like painted with brush and watercolor, just like an enlarged photo of a canvas. She superimposes colours and thereby creates the appearance of transparency. Her works are in demand internationally and can be found all over the world. It was therefore a great honour for the team of the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS to present a new work by MadC at the Hotel de Rome.
Other artists were: DZIA from Belgium, OKO from Croatia, Chemis from Czech Republic, Fat Heat from Hungary, Peeta from Italy, JanIsDeMan from the Netherlands, M-City from Poland, Obie Platon from Romania, Doke from Slovakia, Azram from Slovenia, Huge from Sweden, Mr. Hure from Turkey and Osch from the UK.
More pictures and details about the artists can be found at: https://festival-of-lights.de/en/free-your-energy/
