Johannes Brechter

1979, lives and works in Munich

Black Divers were lowered into the water across from the town hall. With diving masks made from plastic milk bottles, snorkels from PVC tubes, and diving suits from black Gaffa Tape, they bobbed around the canal for weeks.

Were they guarding or surveilling people? Were infrared cameras hiding behind those glasses, or were the divers controlled remotely? Passers-by who noticed the group of five divers, pondered over and fantasized about possibilities.

During Brechter's stay in Dordrecht (in april and august 2010), new miniature skaters, street cleaners, and special military units appeared on a daily basis. They crawled around under bridges, dangled from street lighting in parachutes, or bobbed around Dordrecht's harbors in little boats.

Johannes Brechter, who started his career as a street artist, and graduated in Munich (he studied under Hermann Pitz), is best known for his installations in urban settings, and for his favorite material: plastic. He creates his iconic, cartoonish characters out of existing waste material such as milk bottles, advertising stickers, and plastic cups. Brechter, a skater himself, explores urban areas the way graffiti artists and skaters do. His approach fits well with those of his contemporaries, and fellow graffiti artists, such as Mark Jenkins and Filippo Minelli.

ZWART, Noordkaap April 2010

The word ZWART (Black) lights up from the wall as a graphic emblem.  Brechter left out the rest area of the capitals and scraped line for line out of the black latex wall.

Zwartduikers (Blackdivers), Spuihaven Dordrecht 2010

milkbottles, Gaffa tape, pvc pipe

Opposite the town hall Brechter launched five black divers into the water, they might, or may not, guard the people.

'Scrap Mutants', Voorstraat Noord and Riedijkhaven Dordrecht 2010

tape, plastic bottles, wire, wood

Males with backpacks and baseball caps bravely cling onto cables high above the street. Boats were launched with waste plastic figures and small rods.

In 2010 Brechter finished his studies at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in München, prof. Hermann Pitz.