André Saraiva’s return to Berlin

Known for his vibrant and mischievous street art style, Saraiva first made a name for himself in the early 1990s with his iconic character, “Mr. A”—a playful figure with a winking face and top hat that quickly became synonymous with his work across the urban landscapes of Paris, New York, Berlin, and beyond.

In March 2006, the “enfant terrible” of the Paris creative scene came to Germany for the first time to showcase his art as part of the exhibition “André loves Berlin.”. The exhibition included a large graffiti piece on the gallery’s window.

This year, André returned to Berlin in collaboration with Glenfiddich to create “The Artist’s Edition” of a 31-year-old bottle of Grand Château Whisky. He transformed 250 traditional Toile-de-Jouy themed outer packages, using them as canvases for his playful interpretation of the spirits history.

As part of Berlin Art Week, this collaboration was showcased at Circle Culture Gallery, accompanied by two live art performances. During these, André created two unique pieces on reclaimed Berlin style doors and added a new graffiti piece to our gallery window.

As part of this project, André was interviewed by Lea Dlugosch for Condé Nast Traveller in the gallery space, where they explored the cities that inspire him and why street art is so vital to the health of creative communities around the world.

When asked about the role passersby reactions play in his art, he answered:

“A big one. For me, it’s like a performance. At night, when I spray, no one notices. Once it’s on the wall, it belongs to the passersby. I like that everyone can react in whatever way comes to mind. The main thing is that there is a reaction. Sometimes I even witness it firsthand. What’s funny is that my work doesn’t just appeal to people from the scene, but also to children and even seniors. Once, I saw an elderly woman completely engrossed in a conversation with one of my characters. That was great.”

A good example of this is a project that had a personal impact on me as the current manager of our Berlin gallery. From 1997 to 2003, André accepted requests from people to spray-paint the name of their loved ones on their doorsteps as part of his “Love Graffiti” project. When he visited Berlin for an exhibition in 2006, the former Galerist, Johann Haehling von Lanzenauer, convinced him to do the same for me—I was just 6 years old at the time, having met André at the opening only shortly before. For a year, I would wake up to see Mr. A smiling up at me from across the street, before it was eventually painted over.

Eighteen years later, we met again, this time with me organizing his performances at the gallery, and that very piece now headlines a Condé Nast article.

Art finds a way to connect us through time and change to inspire us along the way.