HOMMAGE TO MARTHA COOPER

  • by BLITZ EN

New mural at the URBAN NATION Museum: Street artist AIKO designs a façade in honour of Martha Cooper

The street artist AIKO aka LADY AIKO designed a new mural for the façade of the URBAN NATION Museum. The large-format work of art pays homage to the legendary photographer Martha Cooper, whose first extensive retrospective “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” can be seen at the URBAN NATION Museum until May 31st, 2022.

The large mural, which was created over a period of two weeks, features motifs from the work of Martha Cooper and AIKO. Both are friends, describe themselves as “partners in crime” and have worked together on various projects over the past 15 years.

“At the beginning of this mission to create the mural, I asked Martha what she would like to see on the wall. She suggested some of her favourite pictures – and based on her selection, I designed a large-format, stencil-style image that would look like a giant invitation banner for her show. Almost like it was a classic, hand-painted film poster in old Times Square,” said AIKO in an interview with the URBAN NATION Museum.

In addition to AIKO’s characteristic rabbit, the re-designed façade of the URBAN NATION Museum on Nollendorfplatz also features scenes from Martha Cooper’s photographs. (Photo: Nika Kramer) 

About AIKO

AIKO aka LADY AIKO is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary art and is also highly regarded in the street art scene. Her unique hand-cut stencil work mixes American pop culture, such as pop art, graffiti, and street art, with traditional Japanese aesthetics and art. As a pioneer of the urban art movement, the Japanese-born artist has been creating artworks for over two decades that can now be seen all over the world and are exhibited in the most influential galleries and museums. AIKO worked with Banksy on the Oscar-nominated documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, as well as for former First Lady Michelle Obama, and designed for fashion brands Fendi and Louis Vuitton.

The newly completed work of art for the URBAN NATION Museum represents the first design of the museum’s façade in 2021.

The artist AIKO designed the mural at the URBAN NATION Museum in Berlin. (Photo: Nika Kramer)

biography of the artist is available here: https://urban-nation.com/artist/lady-aiko/

Contact: 

For questions and further information, please contact pr@urban-nation.com.  

For more information, please go to http://urban-nation.com. Follow URBAN NATION on Instagramand Facebook

About the URBAN NATION Museum
The URBAN NATION Museum is unique among Berlin’s museums and revels in its mission to exhibit, promote and record urban and street art. The museum designs and creates carefully researched and curated exhibitions at its own venue and in public spaces in Berlin’s various districts. The Martha Cooper Library, located in the museum, is also one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to archiving urban art, as well as to its history, and is a hub for networking among scientists, curators and artists.

About the Stiftung Berliner Leben
The Urban Nation Museum is a project of the Stiftung Berliner Leben of the state-owned housing company Gewobag, which contributes to city life with projects in education, art and integration and is committed to making neighbourhoods worth living in over the long-term.
As part of its socio-political mandate, the museum supports children and young people from the Gewobag districts through cultural mediation and educational projects. This year the Stiftung Berliner Leben launched its new programme Stadtraum!Plus.