What’s the deal with the Berlin Wall in my coworking space?

The white words on the front of the wall spell out a name.

A picture documenting the wall following the fall by Edward G. Murray.
When you see the wall for the first time, you would process the heart and guess that the word on top is the end of the word Love!
But it’s actually the name “YVONNE!” spray painted on top of an original piece of art by Kiddy Citny.

The main part of this section was painted well BEFORE the wall fell.

A picture of Theirry Noir painting a part of the Berlin wall in 1985. You can see Kiddy Citny’s hearts in the background.
In 1985, years before the wall was torn down, three artists living in West Berlin decided to illegally paint it. Their names were Kiddy Citny, Theirry Noir, and Christophe Bouchet.

Hello Sadness
How Thierry Noir, describes viewing the ugly wall 5 meters behind his Berlin home.

The painted wall before it was covered with additional graffiti.

The wall in the eighties was the most concrete manifestation of the so called ‘cold-war’ East-West war games. The illegal act of painting the wall was done in an attempt to enclose East Berlin in art.
From Kiddy Citny’s website, the artist behind the heart you see at the Frontier, describing his work.

Wait, this monstrosity has value?

The other half of the YVONNE heart, last scene at the Intrepid Museum in New York.
Most of the Berlin Wall sections found in the US were brought here by New Jersey based contractor Joseph Sciamarelli. Following the collapse Sciamarelli received an exclusive contract to distribute within the US from the German firm contracted to demolish the wall.
The Frontier’s piece is one of those purchased and delivered by Sciamarelli. Originally delivered to New York with its companion. Then onward to the Exploris Children’s Museum (Now Marbles Kids Museum) in Raleigh, NC. After a transition from an older to younger children museum left the piece somewhat out of place it found its way into storage, then eventually, the Frontier.

A picture taken at the Berlin Wall’s original Triangle home, begging the question, “What happened to the plaque with all that context?”

Building Walls – Painting as a form of Protest Continues

Border Bedazzlers showing off their artwork along the border.

Artwork put up on the Mexico side by French artist JR.
On the Mexican side of the US Mexico border fence, in areas that Trump hopes to build up our walls, you’ll find a series of beautiful paintings. Many of which were painted by children.
On the US side, not so much. Instead you’ll find armed border patrol guards and electronic surveillance along the ugly fences.

A surveillance tower in Nogales, Arizona.