MIRKO REISSER (DAIM): 35 Years of an Artistic Journey
- ARTISTIC HUB MAGAZINE
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
An Artist Who Opened Walls to New Dimensions and Turned Cities into Galleries
Mirko Reisser is one of the pioneers of an art form born in the streets that has long since entered major institutions. His works, spanning from early graffiti to monumental installations, reveal how an artistic language can evolve over decades and constantly reinvent itself. In his creations, illusion and reality meet surface and space, opening questions of identity and transformation.
Artwork: “DAIM – straight up”, spraypaint and facade paint on concrete wall, 96 × 18.3 m (310 ft), Hazelview’s First on Tenth, Calgary, 2022. © Mirko Reisser (DAIM). Courtesy of BUMP Festival / Verve Projects.
Photo by Craig Schultz (b4_flight).
In the retrospective at the Woods Art Institute, your path from the first walls to monumental installations was on display. What was the greatest discovery for you in this process, seeing 35 years of work summarized in a single view?
It was a special experience to see a retrospective covering 35 years of my work. What made it even more remarkable was that it was presented entirely with original pieces. In graffiti, this is unusual, as many works are by nature fleeting. This was possible largely thanks to Rik Reinking, who collected and preserved the works over decades and, in doing so, essentially saved them.
It reminded me once again how essential collectors are for both the appreciation and survival of artworks. As an artist, it is neither my role nor my motivation to archive or document my pieces. I create them and release them into the world. Inevitably, they can disappear or be destroyed, as is usually the case with art in public space.
This made it even more powerful to see all the originals brought together again. The retrospective showed that even in such a transient form as graffiti, works can endure.
Your 3D letters often look as if the wall opens up to reveal a new dimension. Is this illusion simply a technical challenge for you, or also a way to explore space and its boundaries?
For me, working in 3D has always been more than a technical experiment. It has been a starting point for exploring space and its limits, and for transformation and self-reflection. The foundation lies in constructing and deconstructing my artist name. This process allows the letters to appear in one moment and disintegrate in the next.
In that tension between stability and dissolution, between surface and space, I find an artistic field where I address questions of identity. The illusion of three dimensions becomes a tool to open space and to make inner processes visible. My letterforms are, in a way, always self-portraits.
The tallest mural in the world, which you created in Calgary, transformed the character of an entire street. How did you personally experience the scale of this work, and did it shift your sense of what a mural can bring to a city?
The scale of that mural was truly extraordinary. What is especially striking is how different it looks depending on the vantage point. From street level, it conveys one impression, while from the opposite high-rises, it reveals another. Even from the air, when approaching Calgary, the mural is clearly visible and leaves its mark on the city’s already distinctive skyline.
Standing next to the iconic Calgary Tower, it has become a permanent part of the skyline and contributes to the cityscape in a lasting way. For me, it reinforced how a single work can create multiple layers of perception for the viewer.
In the Borchardt Gallery, you completely transformed the space with the project Taking Over. What does it mean for you, after so many years of working on open walls, to enter a closed space and reshape it with your own language?
Of course, a gallery represents a different context than painting a wall in public space. The unique aspect of this project was a focus on shaping the very walls and the space of the gallery rather than simply hanging canvases. The work could not be sold, so the spirit of public space extended into the gallery itself.
With Taking Over, I wanted to fully inhabit the space in order to create another kind of intensity. In public space, the fleetingness of the moment often dominates. A gallery allows viewers to engage with the work more deeply. My motivation was to strengthen this relationship with the audience.
With the book and exhibition "Eine Stadt wird bunt", you documented an entire era of Hamburg. How did this experience as a researcher and archivist shape you as an artist?
"Eine Stadt wird bunt" was a comprehensive project. It involved an exhibition, a book, a podcast, and a vinyl compilation. Next year, we will add another book, and after ten years, we will most likely bring the project to a close.
I can already say it has been an intense period that has influenced me as an artist. I also know that only once the project is complete will I be able to enter a phase of reflection and see how this work has changed my perspective.
Your work exists on walls, in galleries, in public spaces, and also in digital formats. Where do you see your next challenge? In the material, in the space, or in how you connect art and the city?
I feel a clear pull back toward 3D. In the mid 1990s, while studying in Switzerland, I worked with sculpture, and I want to further develop that phase of my practice. With today’s technological possibilities, especially with 3D printing, an expanded and exciting field has opened up that I would like to explore.
New technologies, including NFTs and artificial intelligence, also interest me. I grow by exploring new approaches, and I always return to the spray can, the wall, or the canvas. This handmade aspect and these classic materials have been the unifying elements running through my work for 35 years. I believe this return to the handcrafted is more important today than ever.
Exhibition view: “DAIM Retrospective – 35 Years of Graffiti Art”, May 2024 -January 2025. WAI Woods Art Institute, Wentorf near Hamburg, Germany. Photo: MRpro.
Whether on a facade, in a gallery, or in digital space, Mirko Reisser’s art remains an invitation to rethink boundaries. After 35 years of experiments and discoveries, he looks ahead with openness to new technologies while staying connected to the craft that has shaped his work since the very beginning. This interplay yields an art that transforms cities and opens new dimensions for its viewers.
