Skalitzers Contemporary Art was a project co-founded in Berlin 15 years ago. Operating between Berlin and Australia, Skalitzers represented international artists working between public and private spheres. With a particular focus on artists whose practice began on the streets, the gallery opened in 2009 in Kreuzberg with the Fine Lines series, focusing on the tag as a global art form.

The tag, also referred to as handstyle, urban calligraphy or ‘writing’, is a personal statement or signature: an expression of identity. The work of many artists starts and ends with the tag. For some the tag represents the basis from which they developed their style into less abstract art forms. For many of these artists tagging is a relevant part of their work, others’ entire message is contained within their tag. Reaching across culture, class and age, the tag is a global art form: a pure form of self expression and style.

Originating in Philadelphia in the 1960s and New York in the early 1970s, other isolated styles also developed independently including the pixação style in São Paulo. The tag has, for the most part, been either ignored or openly reviled yet for decades it has laid the foundation for a number of related art forms which have developed from the streets to galleries worldwide.

- Kelly Reiffer, Skalitzers, 2009

Selected works from this period by ROA, Vhils, Cope2, NUG, Carlos Mare139 and other exhibiting artists are available in the Stockroom here.