While out biking I took a spin through Wersten, a working-class suburb of Düsseldorf sometimes criticized for its lack of charm (g). Now, I'm not going to lie to you: Wersten's not a feast for the eyes. Lots of nondescript 60s and 70's architecture and charmingly amateurish storefronts. But like almost anywhere in Germany, even this slightly rundown part of town has more parks, playgrounds and plazas than most cities elsewhere.
As I rode down the Kölner Landstrasse, these two graffiti caught my eye. They're on each side of a projecting building facade at 221 Kölner Landstrasse. They're the work of Shogun1, a graffiti artist from Düsseldorf. The manga influence is evident, but I liked the abstraction, the asymmetry, and the complex, cross-cutting rhythms:
