Die Straßenköter (The Street Mongrels). 2022
These drawings were made on the back sides of street posters that I collected during my stay last year in Berlin. Die Strassenköter, a name suggested by the Berlin gallerist Inga Kondeyne, captures both the visual character of the posters, as well as the meandering process of tracking and scavenging for potential drawing material. Dog eared and chewed up around the edges, the history of weather remains evident on these posters as a built-in system, where wrinkles, dried glue, and street detritus lay mapped across their surface. Dragging a black permanent marker back and forth is not a cancellation or redaction, but a means by which these three-dimensional qualities become more apparent. The marker mimics the passage of time. It is a pacing that registers the subtle and not so subtle irregularities of surface abrasions, converting the real texture into a two-dimensional picture. Gathering the posters from roadways and back alleys enabled me to haptically engage my environment and through the process of drawing, to preserve this active geography now located within the poster.
Vertical drawings measure 35" x 22", and the square drawings measure 24* x 22". The medium is permanent marker on poster paper.