Gábor Gerhes was born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1962 and died in 2011. He was a punk musician, photographer, painter, and graphic designer. His untitled painting on the Berlin Wall shows Roman symbols that seem to refer to German unification in 1990.
The five blocks, arranged into a pyramid, in Gábor Gerhes’ bold painting on the Wall resemble gold bars in colour and shape. They are marked with the letters M, D and C. Like the two laurel wreaths, portraying ancient symbols of victory, the letters recall Roman symbols. The two laurel wreaths perhaps allude to East and West Germany’s unification.
Born in Budapest in 1962, Gábor Gerhes began his career in art as a musician, touring western Europe with his band Punk against Socialism. In the late 1980s he exchanged his guitar for a camera and became a photographer, achieving international success. Many of his photographic works are characterized by a maximum of reduction. The same principle can be seen to apply in his painting in the East Side Gallery.