DARE to be different

As the graffiti movement reached Europe from the USA in the mid 1980s,
Sigi “DARE” von Koeding, who was born in Basel (Switzerland), was one
of the protagonists playing a major role. As one of the first writers, the
network of friends he created stretched over half a continent. He further
developed the painting of simple pseudonyms (or tags) and thereby
established his own distinctive 3D-style that he later more and more
often realised and perfected on canvas using a brush. In this way he built
a bridge from the back-alley atmosphere typical of the scene to the art
world of avant-garde galleries. Graffiti was now not just a special form
of claiming territory by adolescents but, under the aegis of von Koeding,
it became an urban spectacle with large-scale mural creations, often in
combination with well-organised competitions or cultural festivals.
On a much smaller scale DARE managed by repeatedly transferring “his”
four letters onto canvas, just using layout, form and colouration, to give
the observer an insight into his personality. In this way, until his death in
2010, he reached completely new audiences. At the same time, he caused
a change of perspective for people interested in culture, who would
have automatically associated graffiti solely with vandalism. As a pioneer
of the sprayer generation, even today DARE enjoys the highest respect of
his colleagues. In his hometown of Basel graffitis can be found that after
25 (!) years have not been painted over.
The book “DARE to be different” will be published in spring 2016 and
for the first time documents, on about 250 pages, graffiti and numerous
sketches from all over Europe as well as a large part of Koeding’s multifaceted
life’s work that he has left to us on canvas.