AMUSEUM of Contemporary Art | Street Art Museum — Attraction in Munich

Visiting the AMuseum of Contemporary Art felt less like engaging with culture and more like being trapped in a poorly executed parody of what contemporary or street art could be. The name itself - AMuseum - might aim to be a "clever" play on words, but instead it only foreshadows the shallow and painfully unfunny content that awaits inside. It's not amusing, and it certainly isn't a museum by any meaningful definition of the term. Also, why should street art ever be in a museum? It just doesn't fit.

What’s presented as “street art” inside this space is an affront - not only to the political and aesthetic history of street art, but to the idea of a museum itself. The artworks are visually offensive and conceptually hollow, filled with flat, cheap puns that feel as if they were generated by an AI. Just as the artist's name - NO NAME. The entire exhibition reads like a weak joke at the expense of street art and feels like a tasteless reversal - rather a Sell la Misère.

To make matters worse, the front desk staff recites a script full of pseudo-intellectual jargon about 'philosophy' and 'conceptual frameworks' of street art - a language that completely misses the mark when it comes to the spontaneous, socially grounded origins of street art and low-threshold.

It’s genuinely disheartening that the city of Munich is investing public funds into a project like this, while genuine cultural initiatives and institutions struggle to survive. Supporting the arts should mean promoting critical, diverse, and meaningful work – not gimmicks disguised as cultural contributions.

This so-called museum doesn’t challenge the boundaries of art or democratic values – it merely lowers its standards, much like society at large currently does.

The only positive aspect: accessibility. Admission is donation-based, which makes the space more open - aligned, at least in theory, with the supposed “philosophy of...

What Sebastian and his team at Positive Propaganda / AMUSEUM of Contemporary Art have created, turning an old bookshop, into a new museum capable of housing 100 pieces of art from one of the World’s best artists is frankly incredible!

You might get to see Shepard Fairey prints, or editions in other museums or galleries around Europe - but when you see original pieces, it is a completely different experience.

Shepard has built layer-upon-layer into the pieces, often based on extracts from old newspapers. You get much more of the context of the issue he is trying to provoke you to think about.

I absolutely recommend a visit to AMUSEUM in Munich. Not only will you get to see an amazing collection from one of the great artists, but the welcome from the team was so genuinely warm & friendly. The exhibit runs until April 2023, but why wait!

As for the man himself, Mr Shepard Fairey… getting to meet him was a real privilege. He must have spent over 4 hours talking to the hundreds who came to the opening, and I never once had the impression he was going through the motions. He answered so many questions sincerely, with a level of depth and honesty, it gave a real insight into what he is trying to achieve, and the artistic methods he uses to engage, “seduce” and stimulate the viewer.

And, if you need even more Shepard, there are a couple of fantastic, relatively new murals around Munich, such as the 140-metre mural on the Mittlerer Ring (in Sending), and ‘Paint It Black’ at Landshutter Allee 54. Both collaborations between Shepard and Positive Propaganda.

And, sure Munich itself isn’t a bad old spot for...

Please don’t miss this when visiting Munich! A very small and casual museum with art by Shepard Fairy, completely free! The lovely staff at the front kindly explain that art should be free for everybody and that donations are welcomed but not necessary - how wonderful. We loved the exhibition, learnt loads and had the opportunity to ask a few questions at the end. 100% recommend! Hoping this quickly makes it to the online lists of...