Hambleton and The White Liners─Two examples of Conceptual Street Art on the Berlin Wall

A rarely discussed conceptual yet political work of illegal street art by Richard Hambleton on the Berlin Wall initiated the by far most famous street art spot on The Wall later made popular by the likes of Terry Noir, Keith Haring or Ron English─and (on Haring’s mural) the so-called White Liners who tried to make The Wall visible again─under all these beautiful colorful co/selfmarketing paintings. They planned to cross out (with a white line) ALL paintings on the 170 kilometers of The Wall. This essay gives an overview about the terms, wall generations, first (known) artists dealing with (and on) The Wall and tries to answer if painting something terrible changes it for the better or the worse.