ART IN TRANSIT
AND BEYOND
Insights, Essays, Writing & Art
Now available in Print.
Now documented in a nearly 500-page catalogue, the HALLENKUNST project returned to its birthplace, Chemnitz. This release marks a significant moment, not only for the project and the curator itself but also for the evolving conversation surrounding graffiti art specifically on public transport and its position within the art historical narrative.
HALLENKUNST served as a portal to a vibrant artistic universe, drawing inspiration from the multifaceted world of art, street culture, and the enduring legacy of graffiti - a movement that was “born as a crisis phenomenon” and spread as an subculture but never turned out to be an art genre. By the movement - which was already heterogeneous in itself - not only different images but entire styles emerged from the very beginning. New genres and artistic overlaps have developed from the streets, which is still multifaceted today.
Influencing and mixing a wide variety of creative forms of expression such as pop art, painting, photography, illustration, design, music or art in public space, this subculture and its protagonists have been among the important cultural changes of the 21st century for more than 40 years and have become an integral part of new contemporary art. Spanning the exhibition period in 2025, the new publication documents this development with a comprehensive art and cultural-historical review of the sequential show at Markthalle Chemnitz, featuring more than 70 artists from Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, U.K., Switzerland, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark and the United States.
Under the title ART IN TRANSIT AND BEYOND, the HALLENKUNST catalogue highlights the complex influence of graffiti and the subway art movement on today's art world. This extensive volume remains an inspiring space for discussions surrounding the topic and its key figures—a record of encounters, exchange, and creative impulses from the official program for Chemnitz 2025, European Capital of Culture.
The 500-page catalogue opens with an introductory chronological section, the HALLENKUNST Timeline, mirroring the original exhibition’s structure. This part of the book takes you on a journey to the early 1970s, a time when the first teenagers in New York City, driven by a variety of social reasons and cultural motivations, began tagging the walls and subways of the Big Apple with their initials and names. This quickly evolved into an unstoppable movement. This part of the publication traces a period and an aesthetic development that would profoundly influence subsequent generations of artists. In the 1980s and 1990s, the spark ignited in England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, unleashing creativity and energy in thousands of young people. The timeline tells on an aesthetic level how graffiti, especially on trains, has developed and in part reinvented itself over 55 years.
The book is compiled by it´s curators, artists, photographers, partners and projects that have played an important role within the storytelling of the show. The Timeline section culminates in 2025 with the growing influence of the digital world, then transitions into the main HALLENKUNST Group Exhibition, showcasing what has become of the protagonists of this massive movement.
Following the original exhibition’s structure, the nearly 500-page catalogue transitions from the Timeline into the main HALLENKUNST Group Exhibition section, showcasing what has become of the protagonists of this massive movement. Influencing a wide variety of creative forms such as pop art, painting, photography or design, the graffiti movement and its protagonists have been among the important cultural changes of the 21st century and have now become an integral part of new contemporary art.
In this part of the publication, you rarely find traditional graffiti. Instead, you'll encounter artistic positions that evolved from the subculture into other genres. The documented works, spanning painting, media art, and sculpture, engaged with cultural contexts from the public space. They also interacted with Chemnitz as the European Capital of Culture 2025 and the host city for HALLENKUNST. Just over half of the featured artworks were created during an Artists-in-Residency Program in the CAMMANN Studios Chemnitz, while the rest were produced in public space or the artists' own studios. Some pieces bridge the cultural-historical background of the Timeline and contemporary art. With others, the early influence is almost indistinguishable, allowing them to seamlessly integrate into their genres. This highlights the essential criterion of the curatorial idea: ART IN TRANSIT & BEYOND.
Over the past 55 years, graffiti has seen several unsuccessful attempts at "musealization." It's only when artists grasp that their time on the street can provide valuable impulses—which must then be translated into artistic consciousness—that exciting new perspectives emerge. HALLENKUNST and this book documents this development with a comprehensive art and cultural-historical review with more than 70 artists and collectives from Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, England, Switzerland, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark and the United States.
HALLENKUNST - ART IN TRANSIT AND BEYOND
The official catalogue of the 2025 exhibition at the Markthalle Chemnitz.
20 x 30 cm, 480 pages, Hardcover, bound in black linen & gloss black hot foil stamping on the cover
150 g/m² Paper Amber Graphic, 5/5-color print (Interior, Endpapers & Dust Jacket)
Section sewn binding with distinctive copper-colored thread
Featured Artists (Timeline): Keith Baugh (Gloucestershire, UK), Steven „Blade“ Ogburn (New York, USA), Futura2000 (New York, US), Dondi White (New York, US), Seen (New York, US), Manfred Kirchheimer (New York, USA), Martha Cooper (New York, USA), Henry Chalfant (New York, USA), Bando (Paris, F), Delta (Amsterdam, NL), Shark (Dortmund, DE), Jepsy (Mainz, DE), CAF Crew (Berlin, DE), Sigi „Dare“ von Koeding (Basel, CH), Loomit (München, DE), Furious Tripl (Amsterdam, NL), Hati.Hati.Mas (Hamburg, DE), Daim (Hamburg, DE), Torch (Heidelberg, DE), Alex Fakso (Mailand, ITA)
Featured Artists (Group Exhibition): Adrian 'Smash137' Falkner (Basel, CH), Doppeldenk (Leipzig, DE), Andrè Deloar (Zürich, CH), Robert Reinhold (Chemnitz, DE), Niels „Shoe“ Meulman (Amsterdam, NL), Claudia „MadC“ Walde (Dresden, DE), Rafael „Satone“ Gerlach (München, DE), Thomas „Zasd“ Bratzke (Berlin, GER), Jan Kaláb (Prag, CZ), Lars Teichmann (Berlin, DE), Mariusz „M-City“ Waras (Danzig, PL), Moritz G. Green (Hamburg, DE), Tin Triebel (Leipzig, DE), Stefan Schleupner (Leipzig, DE), Enrico Sutter (Dresden, DE), Silvio Zesch (Chemnitz, DE), Aileen „Mick La Rock“ Middel (Amsterdam, NL), Bertram Riedel (Chemnitz, DE), Marc Einsiedel (Berlin, DE), Chy78 (Berlin, DE), Kashink (Paris, F), Sainer (Gdynia, PL), Jasmin „Hera“ Siddiqui (Frankfurt, DE), Finer (Warschau, PL), Cmpone (Naestved, DK), Mirko „Daim“ Reisser (Hamburg, DE), Moses & Taps (DE), No.Madski (Hamburg, DE), Paul Arena (Berlin, DE), Art of Rage (Hamburg, DE), Mina Mania (Berlin, DE), Niza Kollektiv (Berlin, DE), Sweet Uno (Heidelberg, DE), Edward Nightingale, Rocco & His Brothers (Berlin, DE), Video.Sckre (Linz/München, DE), Philipp Weber (Leipzig, DE), Falk „Akut“ Lehmann (Berlin, DE), Caparso (Dresden, DE), Bert (Weimar, DE), Jonas „Bond“ Ihlenfeldt (Leipzig, DE), Samy Deluxe (Hamburg, DE), Tasso (Meerane, DE), Arda (Chemnitz, DE), Kid Gringo (Chemnitz/Leipzig, DE)
Contributors: Le Grand Jeu (Paris, F), Charlie Ahearn (New York, USA), Fab5Freddy (New York, USA), David Gilbert (New York, USA), Gallery Yaki Kornblit (Amsterdam, NL), Graffiti Goes East (Berlin/Warschau, DE/PL), Brain Damage Projects (Warschau, PL), Dutch Graffiti Library (Amsterdam, NL), Urban Discipline (Hamburg, DE), Collection Rik Reinking (Hamburg, DE), City of Names (Berlin, DE), Streetfiles.org (Berlin, DE), DRM Crew (Berlin, DE), Viral Vandals Revisited (Amsterdam, NL), Planet Dance (Chemnitz, DE), NSK Crew (Chemnitz, DE), Die Züge gehören uns (München, DE), Subway Art Repainted (Amsterdam, NL), Milk (Hamburg, DE), Christian Bartels (Hamburg, DE) sowie Florian Krause (Frankfurt, DE).
Publisher: RED TOWER Publishing
ISBN: 978-3-9825457-8-3
Language: English/German
Author: Cezary Hunkiewicz
Editorial: Cezary Hunkiewicz, R.M.Schmidt, René Kaestner, Anna-Carla Brokof
Layout: Konrad Smolarski
Exhibition Photography: Michael Schmidt
Cover Photos: Martha Cooper, 1980, "Break Train" by Futura 2000, "splash" by MOSES & TAPS
The official HALLENKUNST 2025 catalogue is now available for pre-order while availability last. This is a limited run and will not be reprinted. Pre-orders are open until January 14, 2026. Shipping will commence from late January 2026 on.
