Art in the City - 30 Years of Villa Aurora
by VATMH Berlin
To mark the 30th anniversary of the renowned artist residency in Los Angeles, Villa Aurora is launching a public art initiative featuring six exclusive poster artworks created by former fellows. From May 12 to 25, these large-scale pieces will be displayed at prominent locations throughout Berlin.
Titled Art in the City, the project reflects the rich diversity of Berlin and Los Angeles. Each artwork engages with the unique characteristics of different neighborhoods, building bridges between the two metropolises while addressing pressing socio-political themes. The six public installations capture the texture of urban life and offer new perspectives on themes such as community, beauty, aging, and freedom of expression. The goal: to make art visible and accessible—beyond the museum walls and white cubes, right in the heart of the city’s everyday life.
At Weserstraße in Neukölln, Werner Amann brings his portrait series I am Your Temple, originally created in Los Angeles. As a counterpoint to the youth-driven beauty industries of Berlin and L.A., Amann depicts bodies of older generations in moments of intimate, everyday presence.
Ulu Braun presents Sunset Egonomy, a digital mural at Kottbusser Damm—a spiritual overload that blends West Coast myth, Silicon Valley twilight, and pop media symbolism. Martin Scorsese waves with an ice cream cone, a piggy bank from a local savings bank rests beneath an automotive prophecy. Sunset Egonomy is dream and dissociation, promise and void all at once.
For any artist, there’s always something to do on a nondescript May day: buy a pasta claw, visit an exhibition, draw a snake, get a new haircut. With her nine-meter-wide poster The Artist, Ode to the Pen, Anna Haifisch presents her personal take on the rhythms of daily life in global cities like L.A. and Berlin.
Paul Hutchinson’s collage Schöneberg 30 brings together texts and images by the artist from the years 2016 to 2025. Much of the material was created in the very district where the collage is now on display—northern Schöneberg, once known as the postal district Schöneberg 30.
In Dreamfactory, Karin Apollonia Müller evokes a moment of contemplation and timeless stillness through the interplay of sky, nature, and human presence. At the same time, the image’s expansiveness stands in stark contrast to the compression of urban space, prompting a critical reflection on both the constant presence and the glamorized promises of the fashion world.
Siska’s photographic series Freedoom of Speech, developed during the artist’s time at Villa Aurora in 2022, critiques the shrinking space for free expression in both Germany and the United States. Inspired by the Old English typeface often seen on Los Angeles streetwear, the visual language in this new work becomes a striking intervention—exposing the fragility of liberal democracies.
The works by all six artists will be on view across Berlin from May 12 to 25. A second edition of the project is planned for October.