"The initial spark for techno in Berlin was the fall of the Wall".
Jim Avignon, born in 1968, is one of Germany’s best-known Pop Art artists. He moved to West Berlin in 1988. His 1990 Wall painting “Doin it cool for the East Side” depicts events shortly after the fall of the Wall. Rather than restore it, he and a class of art school students painted a new version in 2013.
Jim Avignon in the interview
Avignon painted his picture “Doin it cool for the East Side” in 1990 as a foil to the pictures celebrating the fall of the Wall. The original painting showed almost 20 events that took place in early 1990.
In 1991 he added the words “Money Machine”, which remained until 1996, as an ironic comment on the advertising agency Werbe- und Veranstaltungsagentur (Wuva) that aimed to commercially exploit the Wall paintings. Together with a class of Berlin art school students, he painted a new version of the picture in 2013. It now shows a satirical panorama of Berlin.
Aged twenty, Avignon first came to West Berlin in 1988 and started sketching in cafés und techno clubs. A cosmopolitan painter, concept artist, illustrator, and performer, he is now based in Berlin. He is also a musician and performs with his band Neoangin. Avignon likes to defy the rules of the art market. He himself saw the Gallery as an opportunity to raise his profile in Berlin.