MTO is a French born-Berlin based Street Artist who produces incredible large-scale photorealistic pieces. Seeing his work on closed shop shutters makes getting up early to wander the streets of Kreuzberg worthwhile.
This Spike LEE in Görlitzer Park is remarkably intact for its age.
MTO painted a series of portraits of ‘Berlin Street Fighters’ – artists and activists that included the top photo of PROST.
His series ‘Oldies But Goodies’ included this now slightly worse for wear (not unlike the man himself) Bob Dylan.
I’ve also seen a great Michael Jackson piece in the RAW Tempel, which I’m convinced I have photos of but can’t find. If I dig them out I’ll post them here and if they’re lost, I’ll take some more.
**Update** I couldn’t find the photos so I’ve been back to take more photos. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson is now smoking a spliff (not part of the original MTO piece).
You can see the artist at work on a couple of pieces in Rennes in the video Who Wants To Kill MTO?, which he posted to Vimeo.
Who Wants To Kill MTO?
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/49240251 w=500&h=375]
Like most Street Artists, MTO is no stranger to controversy but the furore over the Fast Life mural he painted in Sarasota, Florida probably came as a surprise.
The piece came under fire over what some believed to be gang symbolism and was eventually whitewashed. MTO then returned to Sarasota to paint a new mural that many believe was a dig at Scott Gerber, the owner of Tube Dude, the shop on which the original mural was painted.
You can read more about the story on This Week In Sarasota and see the original Fast Life piece on MTO’s Flickr.
You can see more incredible Street Art by MTO, including more work outside Berlin, on his Facebook page and Flickr stream.
[…] The London Police is a street art collective that was formed to combine travel with art and I love this giant mural spotted in Kreuzberg while I was tracking down pieces for my MTO post. […]