DAS DROGEN AMATEUR
300 x 300 cm
Das Drogen is a collective of like-minded guys that have managed to blend their styles so much that it is becoming an art form in itself trying to tell them apart. They rarely, if ever, do letters but their characters, with psychedelic bright colours, are always very distinctive. Their piece made for the Reconstrukcija Festival in 2019 seems to blend many influences that we have seen in their work over the years. Here we can see a mixture of cartoon/manga/hero/robot/futurism/1980s styles that are paired with a pink background and the title Das Drogen Amateur, bringing a multilayered piece to the audience. Even if the Das Drogen piece falls somewhere between graffiti and street art, we could safely say that they stand with one foot in street art territory. Rekonstrukcija is a relatively young festival that promotes arts in the streets and, over the past few years, they have managed to gather over 80 local and international street artists and to produce over 20 large murals in Belgrade. This Das Drogen piece is a part of a large mural that was made by 15 local and international artists in the courtyard of King Peter the First primary school, a site where the first graffiti jam in Belgrade took place twenty years ago. This was an event that Rekonstrukcija and Paint Kartel were ‘warming up’ for (for further explanation go back to ‘Welcome to Belgrade’ piece).