Before my life as a street artist I was a scientist researching the development of vaccines. In South Africa I was working at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital investigating a potential target for a successful HIV vaccine. I had not only gone to Cape Town to work on this deadly virus but I also wanted to live in a country where the effects of the HIV pandemic were visible in everyday life. The experiences that I made while living and working in South Africa fundamentally changed who I was as a person and what was important in life. Eventually this resulted in giving up a scientific career some years later and instead pursuing a new way of life as a street artist working with big stencils that push socio-critical ideas.
First, though, while living in New Zealand I started painting small stencils on paper that I then would glue up around the streets of Dunedin. One of the first motives showed a red ribbon, long rows of graves, a kissing couple and the words “Love all – trust no one” written below. I came up with the motive in 2008 and glued it all around town the night before World AIDS Day (1st of December). Since then I have been painting, spraying, pasting or publishing the motive each year for world AIDS day. Now, after having painted the motive for almost 10 years, I wanted to celebrate it and am publishing a limited edition riosgraphy on December 1st 2018. A risography is comparable to a silk screen print and the edition is limited to 100 signed and numbered copies.
But more importantly ALL proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Children’s Hospital Trust, a non-profit organisation raising funds for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, the place where everything started for me. The hospital mainly treats children from impoverished communities throughout Africa. If you would like to know more about the Hospital and the trust, please have a look here.
You can buy the print in my shop.
Thank you!
P.S. I’d also like to thank the following for supporting this project:
Urban Shit Gallery (Hamburg)
Kunstlabor (Munich)
Giulia_blocal_blog (Amsterdam)
Inspiring City (London)
Street Art United States (USA)
Brooklyn Street Art (USA)
Street Kiwi (Dunedin, New Zealand)
