Nomen est omen: STENCILS ONLY presents artists for whom working with stencils plays a central role.A Technique with HistoryThe stencil is one of the oldest image-making techniques of all, and at the same time one of the most defining in urban art. In the early 1980s, Blek le Rat took it to the streets of Paris and established it as an art form in its own right. Later, the legendary Banksy helped it achieve worldwide popularity. Today, countless exciting artists work with stencils, taking their interventions to the streets and creating artworks in public space.Precision and ImmediacyThe appeal of the technique lies in a contradiction. Cutting a stencil is a slow, precise process, often taking many hours and several layers. Spraying, by contrast, takes seconds. The stencil thus combines meticulous craftsmanship with the speed of the street. Every work is reproducible, yet remains unique, as the surface, the application of paint and the surroundings change the image each time.Eight PositionsIn this edition of the STENCILS ONLY show, we present new works by eight artistic positions that demonstrate how diverse this technique can be: from pointed social critique and poetic snapshots to richly symbolic visual worlds.FAKE Dutch artist FAKE is considered Amsterdam's best-known stencil artist, both on the street and on canvas. His vividly coloured works draw on icons of everyday life and pop culture, slightly provocative and always with a healthy dose of humour and irony. Among his best-known pieces is the award-winning "Super Nurse", a tribute to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Guy Denning British artist Guy Denning combines a traditional painterly style with a contemporary, punk-inspired element: collaged and stencilled text that adds a further, often political layer of narrative to his figures. His works are held in several public collections, including the MAGI'900 Museum of Contemporary Art in Bologna.Jana & JS The Austrian-French duo has been painting together since 2006 and is known for multicoloured stencil works based on their own photographs. Jana & JS combine portraits with urban landscapes and architecture, deliberately choosing old materials that speak of the passage of time. After years in Madrid and Paris, they now live in Salzburg.kurznachzehn German artist kurznachzehn discovered her technique in 2011 through nostalgic family photos from the 1950s. She first sprays her multi-layered stencils onto paper and then pastes them up in the urban landscape. For her gallery works, she also uses wooden panels and found metal.L.E.T. The initials stand for "Les Enfants Terribles". The French-born artist has been active on the street since 1992 and has shaped the cityscape of his adopted hometown, Düsseldorf, making him one of the street artists of the very first hour. He pairs his mostly black-and-white figures with charmingly provocative messages that expose the shortcomings of our consumer and fun-driven society with a wink.Monkeybird The Bordeaux duo, made up of Temor ("Monkey") and Blow ("Bird"), has been working together since 2012. Their entirely hand-cut stencils depict metaphysical architectures inspired by geometry, mechanics, cosmology and astronomy. The monkey and the bird represent the two sides of human nature: the realist and the dreamer.Otto Schade Born in Chile, the artist also known as "Osch" began his career as an architect and urban sculptor. He has lived in London since 2006, where his architectural understanding of space led him to develop his distinctive "ribbon" style. The intertwining bands shape his subjects and give them an almost sculptural presence.seiLeise Behind seiLeise is Cologne-based artist Tim Ossege, who uses stencils and other urban art techniques to comment on social developments and world events. His pointed motifs provoke thought without wagging a finger. He is also regarded as a pioneer of reverse graffiti, using stencils and a sandblaster to clean motifs out of dirty walls."STENCILS ONLY"Exhibition 2 December 2022 – 10 February 2023Opening Friday, 2 December 2022, 7 pmPretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

During a conversation with a literary friend about Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the famous dialogue between Zarathustra and the dwarf naturally came up, in which time, space and the moment are discussed: "'Everything straight lies,' the dwarf murmured contemptuously. 'All truth is crooked; time itself is a circle.'"The Mother of All FormsThe circle is often called the mother of all forms: a perfect form and a basic framework that springs directly from nature. Nevertheless, most images in contemporary art are created on rectangular formats. The rectangle gives the image a clearer boundary and forms a more self-contained surface. The circle, by contrast, has no corners and no interior angles; one could also say it has infinitely many sides. For many artists, a circular painting surface therefore poses a new challenge.The ChallengeIn Enter the Circle, ten artistic positions from graphic abstraction and Graffuturism take on precisely this challenge. Some regularly use the circle to frame their works, some occasionally, and some have chosen a round format for the very first time for this exhibition.Ten Visual LanguagesIn their works, they reflect on a wide range of ideas and concepts. They find inspiration in the exploration of colour and form, in nature, in architecture and urban landscapes, in typography and graffiti. The result is visual languages that could hardly be more different: some works bubble over with vitality and spontaneity, while others are clearly constructed and remarkably precise. The artists work with lacquer, acrylic, paper, wood and other materials."Enter the Circle"Exhibition 3 December 2021 – 4 February 2022 Tuesday – Friday, 2 – 7 pmOpening Friday, 3 December 2021, 5 – 10 pmPretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Bestranged combines two words that aptly describe the past year: "strange" and "estranged". For months, we lived through a situation that was new and unsettling for all of us. We kept our distance, wore masks, avoided encounters and, to some extent, drifted apart from one another. What remained were feelings for which there were often no words.Art from LockdownThe exhibition presents a selection of works that reflect this time. They tell of people in an exceptional situation, of isolation and estrangement, of covered faces and the longing for closeness. Eight urban art positions have engaged with the experiences of recent months in very different ways: sometimes ironic, sometimes poetic, sometimes with oppressive directness.Get an impression of the exhibition in our video.FAKE Dutch artist FAKE is considered Amsterdam's best-known stencil artist, both on the street and on canvas. His vividly coloured works draw on icons of everyday life and pop culture, slightly provocative and always with a healthy dose of humour and irony. Among his best-known pieces is the award-winning "Super Nurse", a tribute to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guy Denning British artist Guy Denning combines a traditional painterly style with a contemporary, punk-inspired element: collaged and stencilled text that adds a further, often political layer of narrative to his figures. His works are held in several public collections, including the MAGI'900 Museum of Contemporary Art in Bologna.Jana & JS The Austrian-French duo has been painting together since 2006 and is known for multicoloured stencil works based on their own photographs. Jana & JS combine portraits with urban landscapes and architecture, deliberately choosing old materials that speak of the passage of time. After years in Madrid and Paris, they now live in Salzburg.Natalia Rak The Polish artist graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź in 2012 and has been creating large-scale murals around the world since 2011. Her luminous, mostly female figures draw on folklore and fairy tales and have a surreal quality. Her mural Legend of the Giants in Białystok, showing a girl caring for a real tree, was included in the street art series issued by the Polish Post.Otto Schade Born in Chile, the artist also known as "Osch" began his career as an architect and urban sculptor. He has lived in London since 2006, where his architectural understanding of space led him to develop his distinctive "ribbon" style. The intertwining bands shape his subjects and give them an almost sculptural presence.Shai Dahan Born in Haifa in 1979, Shai Dahan grew up in Los Angeles, where he started out as a graffiti writer at the age of 14. He has lived in Sweden since 2010 and gained recognition there with his reinterpretation of the Dala horse, the traditional Swedish wooden horse. In 2019, he painted what was then Sweden's largest mural in Borås.Sokar Uno Born in Gotha in 1987, the Berlin-based artist found his way to art through the graffiti scene in the late 1990s. His partly realistic, often dark figures look as if they had been broken apart and reassembled, like fragments of a bronze sculpture. Self-taught, he processes current events as well as personal experiences and states of mind in his work.STF Moscato Born in 1976, Marseille artist Stéphane Moscato, aka STF, is a child of punk. For many years, he has been peeling entire layers of posters off the walls of his city and mounting them onto canvas in his studio. Using stencils and spray paint, he creates unique works guided by these street fragments, through which a social and political stance subtly shines.

A piece of cardboard, a cutter, a spray can: that is all it takes to put an image on a wall in seconds, again and again. This simplicity has made the stencil one of the most important tools of art in public space.Paving the Way for Street ArtArtworks created with stencils have decisively shaped the visual language of street art and urban contemporary art. Starting with Blek le Rat, who began working with stencils in Paris in the early 1980s, the stencil paved the way for art in public space as we know it today.One Technique, Many SignaturesThe stencil makes it possible to repeat a motif quickly, precisely and as often as desired, on the street as well as in the studio. The five positions in this exhibition show how differently this technique can be used: from ironic pop culture references and photographically inspired urban portraits to socially critical paste-ups, sculpturally intertwined ribbons and nostalgic family scenes. The artists live and work in the Netherlands, France and Austria, Germany, the UK and the USA.FAKE Amsterdam-based artist FAKE has been active on the streets since 2005 and is considered one of the best-known stencil artists in the Netherlands. His cleanly cut, vividly coloured works draw on icons of everyday life and pop culture, adding a twist of humour and irony. One of his best-known works, "FAKE Love", tells of how much love can hurt.Jana & JS The Austrian-French duo has been painting together since 2006 and is known for multicoloured stencil works based on their own photographs. Jana & JS combine portraits with urban landscapes and architecture, deliberately choosing old materials that speak of the passage of time. After years in Madrid and Paris, they now live in Salzburg.kurznachzehn German-born artist kurznachzehn discovered her technique in 2011 through nostalgic family photos from the 1950s. She first sprays her multi-layered stencils onto paper and then pastes them up in the urban landscape. Since 2016, she has lived in San Diego, California, where her work adorns numerous façades.L.E.T. The initials stand for "Les Enfants Terribles". The French-born artist has been active on the street since 1992 and has shaped the cityscape of his adopted hometown, Düsseldorf, making him one of the street artists of the very first hour. He pairs his mostly black-and-white figures with charmingly provocative messages that expose the shortcomings of our consumer and fun-driven society with a wink.Otto Schade Born in Chile, the artist also known as "Osch" began his career as an architect and urban sculptor. He has lived in London since 2006, where his architectural understanding of space led him to develop his distinctive "ribbon" style. The intertwining bands shape his subjects and give them an almost sculptural presence."STENCILS ONLY"Exhibition 15 May – 26 June 2020 Tuesday – Friday, 2 – 7 pmDue to current circumstances, there will be no opening reception for this exhibition. However, the gallery is open during regular hours, and we look forward to your visit. If you would like to receive the exhibition catalogue (PDF), please send us an email.Pretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Working in urban space means thinking in space. For urban artists, facades, ledges, electrical boxes and lampposts are not just surfaces, but part of the work itself. What could be more natural than to detach one's visual language from the flat surface altogether and take it into the third dimension?From the Wall into SpaceIn Urban Sculptures, many of the artists represented by Pretty Portal show works in which they translate their visual language into space. In doing so, they experiment with a wide variety of materials: wood, metal, plastic and even Lego bricks. For as natural as urban space is to urban art, sculptures and objects have rarely taken centre stage so far, usually leaving the leading role to painting.Free-Standing and Wall-MountedPixelpancho shapes the protagonists of his paintings, his robots, as sculptures. Some works stand freely in the room, others are mounted on the wall, such as Jana & JS's abstract architectural views reminiscent of favelas. Also on show are abstract objects by Italian artist ETNIK, figures by Biserama, KJ263, Mono Cieza, SAM3 and WESR, and style writing in Lego bricks by Cole Blaq.URBAN SCULPTURES feat. Biserama, Cole Blaq, Cranio, ETNIK, Jana & JS, KJ263, Mono Cieza, Pixelpancho, SAM3, WESROpening 23 June, 7 – 10 pmExhibition 23 June – 11 August Monday – Friday, 11 am – 7 pm and by appointmentPretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

A photograph cuts a moment out of the flow of time. Jana & JS do the same with a knife. Just as the blade cuts the stencil, their images cut a piece out of the flow of time and hold it still for close contemplation.SnapshotsThe images of Jana & JS appear like snapshots. The clear lines and the sharp outlines of the people they portray, created through the use of stencils, feel like time standing still. The moments captured in this way are closely tied to emotions, which play a strong role in the couple's work.Traces of the CityMany of their works are created on found old objects. These enhance the effect of the images, in which transience and the after-effects of lived experience resonate. Using objects that originate in urban space, the artist couple connects their work with the city as a human habitat. Just as Jana & JS place their art as an intervention in urban space, these works bring urban space into the gallery.A Solo Show at Pretty PortalIn recent years, Jana & JS have already taken part several times in the group exhibition STENCILS ONLY at Pretty Portal. Their murals can be found on the streets of Vienna, Paris, Düsseldorf, London and New York, and their visual worlds are an integral part of the ever-growing urban art movement. We are now delighted to welcome them to Düsseldorf for a solo show. In A Matter of Time, they present a new series of works created this year. During the exhibition, we will also release a limited stencil edition together with Jana & JS.About the ArtistsThe Austrian-French artist couple Jana & JS have been working together since 2006. Their multicoloured stencils are based on their own photographs, often portraits, which they combine with urban landscapes and architecture. They prefer to work on old, used materials that speak of the passage of time."A Matter of Time" Jana & JSOpening Friday, 12 June 2015, 7 – 10 pmExhibition 12 June – 10 July 2015Pretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Groupshow feat. A1ONE, BTOY, DECYCLE, ELIOT, FinDAC, JANA&JS, kurznachzehn, L.E.T., Orticanoodles, Tankpretrol, Wolfgang Krell

On the street, repetition is what counts: a stencil allows a motif to be applied quickly, again and again. In the gallery, something else comes to the fore. Here it is about the technique each artist has found for themselves, a visual language that can be recognised at first glance, and the concept, the idea behind the image. In short: the artistic signature.Originals and editionsIn STENCILS ONLY 2013 we present original works by Jana & JS, L.E.T., Tankpetrol and Stefan Winterle. We are also showing the latest editions by BTOY, DECYCLE, Fin DAC and Orticanoodles, released by Pretty Portal in November and December 2013.Jana & JSJana & JS are an artist couple, she from Austria, he from France. They spray portraits based on their own photographs, often of themselves, on walls, wood and found objects.L.E.T.L.E.T. stands for “Les Enfants Terribles”. Since 1992 the Düsseldorf artist has shaped the streets of his home town with stencils and paste-ups. He already took part in STENCILS ONLY in 2011.TankpetrolBorn in Poland, Tankpetrol lives in Manchester, where he discovered stencil art. His works mostly centre on women in military-style clothing, surrounded by animals, geometric shapes and self-designed lettering.Stefan WinterleStefan Winterle was born in Lörrach in 1976 and started doing graffiti in 1993. Since 2000 he has focused entirely on cutting and spraying stencils, a process he describes as meditative: while preparing a set of stencils, he analyses the motif and plans the colours. Since 2010 he has also been curator of the Carhartt Gallery in Weil am Rhein.BTOYBTOY is the Barcelona artist Andrea Michaelsson. Her stencils are based on photographs and focus on strong female figures. In February she showed her solo exhibition The dispossessed with us.DECYCLE“Multi-layered is probably the best word for it,” says DECYCLE of his style (translated). Each picture is made from several stencils, one per colour, which are layered on top of each other to create the final motif. The content is multi-layered too: DECYCLE does not want to make a definitive statement but to make people think, and it is precisely the different interpretations that matter to him. His name stands for breaking out of habitual patterns of thought and out of his own daily routine, and for art that makes its way to places where no one expects it: the street.Fin DACThe Irish artist Fin DAC lives in London. He is known for portraits of women with a coloured band across the eyes, combining stencil and freehand painting.OrticanoodlesOrticanoodles are the Italian artist couple Alita and Wally from Milan. They are known for unusually complex, multi-layered stencil works.“STENCILS ONLY 2013” BTOY, DECYCLE, Fin DAC, Jana & JS, L.E.T., Orticanoodles, Tankpetrol, Stefan Winterle Vernissage: Friday, 22 November 2013 Exhibition: 22 November – 23 December 2013 Pretty Portal, Brunnenstraße 12, 40223 DüsseldorfNote (2026): Stefan Winterle ran the gallery in Weil am Rhein, now Colab Gallery, as its curator for a total of 14 years.