Andi Schmitz Archives

From Monaco to the World: UPAINT Enters Its Second Decade

Ten editions ago, bringing an international street art festival to Monaco still sounded like an idea that should not work. Now, a decade later, the festival has grown from an unlikely experiment into one of Monaco’s recurring cultural events, proving that urban art can exist in even the most unexpected places.

Heiner Radau: Drawing the City from the Inside Out

Heiner Radau’s work reminds us that a city cannot be fully understood from a passing photograph, but from the long act of sitting still inside it, watching everything move.

Caroline Lacoma and the Art of Returning

Some artists use a camera to document. Caroline Lacoma uses one to answer back.

Walls That Talk: Jay Kaes and the Politics of Perception

In a world flattened by screens and filtered realities, Jay Kaes paints rupture back into public space. His glitched portraits crack open questions of identity, beauty, and perception, turning city walls into living conversations where error becomes truth, and distortion reveals the fragile humanity beneath the digital surface.

Inside the ESSENCE: STRAAT and the Dutch Graffiti Library

In Amsterdam’s dockside shadows, Dutch graffiti breathes with punk-born rhythm and restless invention. At STRAAT Museum, the Dutch Graffiti Library uncovers a culture of fierce local spirit that carried Dutch writers alongside New York’s early legends in its latest exhibition, the ESSENCE.

UP Mag x Dirty Jewels – The Process of Turning Graffiti into Handcrafted Jewelry

UP Magazine and Dirty Jewels Berlin have once again joined forces to explain how they developed their jewelry-making process. Upcycled layers of graffiti paint collected from a section of the Berlin Wall are painstakingly turned into colorful silver-adorned pieces. Ulli Schröder and her team have found a way to meld Berlin’s history with its graffiti subculture, giving new life to what others might consider trash.

Fairey at Fotografiska

The opening party for Shepard Fairey’s newest exhibition, “Photo Synthesis” at Fotografiska in Berlin, was kicked off by German punk garage duo Cava and followed by a discussion with Sven Fortman, the editor of the German graffiti magazine Lodown.

UPAINT the Ocean: Street Art for the Planet

To host a graffiti and street art festival in a city like Monaco, a place defined by its pristine glamour, seems almost impossible. Yet, over nine editions, UPAINT has managed to host artists from all over the world and raise thousands for environmental conservation, proving that street art belongs in even the most unexpected places.

UP6 – One Crew. One Love. 1UP.

Over the past two decades, the graffiti collective 1UP, originating in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, has evolved from a group of four friends into a 30+ member crew. Through meticulously planned and executed “Actions,” the collective has left an indelible mark on the global graffiti scene, creating high-energy videos showcasing their diverse and daring pieces, ranging from small tags to large-scale train disruptions.

RISE – Berlin Graffiti

RISE - Berlin GraffitiWritten by Andi Schmitz Published on May 20th, 2025 Berlin's walls tell a story of division and resilience from the days of the Berlin Wall to today's political tensions. Graffiti remains a voice for the unheard and a mirror to society's fractures. For activists like RISE, the wall is both a canvas and…