Anonymous street artist spreads peace with catchy slogans
Felix Schlagwein / adJune 13, 2016
With her socially critical posters, "Barbara." has become an anonymous internet star. With her first exhibition in Berlin, the street artist is appealing for more tolerance in the world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Advertisement
Anonymous street artist 'Barbara.' spreads love in Berlin
She criticizes society and promotes understanding and respect by posting signs and placards all over Germany. But the artist chooses to remain anonymous, known only as "Barbara."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Kitten against the far-right
With her artworks, "Barbara." calls for peace, tolerance and a multi-cultural society. She does without blunt or boring statements, preferring to add a dash of creativity and humor to her messages. This poster reads: "Every time far-right group Pediga shouts 'We are the people,' this kitten is sad and feels like crying."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Exhibition this way
This simple sign, reading "Gluing is fun," points to a small exhibition of Barbara.'s works in Berlin. Her posters are not particularly striking - and yet the messages they contain are noticeable. The placards in the exhibition at Boxhagener Platz in the German capital mainly consist of text on a plain background, but include political statements and short, short cynical poems.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Clear words against homophobia
The main themes of Barbara.'s artwork are racism and intolerance. With her street art, she also takes a stand against homophobia. This placard is one of 100 hand-made exhibits of the artist. It reads, "I wish all homophobic people gay sons and lesbian daughters."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
A message of love
"Love instead of hate" seems to be the main message of the street artist. Her aim is to spread joy and promote peace. Her exhibition at Boxhagener Platz in Berlin is typical for her style.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Stickers in the park
With her pop-up exhibition "Gluing is fun" "Barbara." also speaks out for animal rights. "All animals are wonderful" is her slogan, enhanced by flashy animal stickers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
'I glue, therefore I am'
Apparently, her favorite hobby is gluing. In addition to this placard, which reads "Hurray, I'm still sticking," Barbara. also formulated the statements, "I came, I saw, I glued" and "I don't dream my gluing, I glue my dream." And alluding to the famous quote by French philosopher René Descartes, the artist exclaimed, "I glue, therefore I am."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Multiculturalism is delicious
Germany needs tolerance instead of ignorance, the mysterious street artist Barbara. claims. Literally, her poster reads, "Germany is beautiful, but is more much beautiful with pizza, döner and sushi." She remains anonymous, as she wants people to judge her art independantly from her person. Even during preparationsfor her exhibition in Berlin, she remained incognito.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
Share the love
"Love and stuff for everyone:" Barbara. is spreading the love all over Germany and it seems to be catching on. She already has over 450,000 fans on Facebook and over 150,000 on Instagram (@ich_bin_barbara).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
8 images1 | 8
About 100 handmade placards and billboards suddenly appeared at Boxhagener Platz in Berlin last week, produced by a mysterious street artist who simply calls herself "Barbara."
In this unspectacular way, she "opened" her first pop-up exhibition, entitled "Gluing is fun." Her posters, mainly clad with simply slogans, call attention to political and social ills in her typically humorous way.
This is how Barbara. - followed by more than 450,000 fans on Facebook and 150,000 on Instagram - achieved fame across Germany. Her messages express what many people feel.
"Peace is breaking down, maximum alarm, the rich are too rich, the poor are too poor," the artist bemoans with a white inscription on a black background, signed "Barbara."
Another placard makes a pun on the German word "Vollpfosten," which means "idiot," but includes the word for a stake or post. "There are too many brown (right-wing) 'Vollpfosten' in the country," she posted on a brown stake.
Street art phantom
Barbara. Tirelessly speaks out against xenophobia and in support of tolerance. Her art, spread through social networks, has made her a star, and yet, she prefers to remain anonymous. She only gives interviews in the form of online chats. Her face and age are unknown.
In this way, she resembles British street artist Banksy, who also became famous with his socially critical art, and who has managed to keep his identity a secret for years.
"I enjoy the freedom which only anonymity can guarantee, I want my works to be judged independently from me as a person," Barbara. wrote in a chat interview with German public broadcaster SWR.
It all started with a swastika
She started with her gluing activities already as a child. As she once recounted, her grandfather had tried to remove a swastika scribbled on a house wall while she was going on a walk with him. After he explained the significance of the symbol to her, she came back the next day to glue a poster of a laughing sun on top of it. Nowadays, she glues and posts cheer and positive messages all over Germany.
