"Silent Heroes" by Hera and Friends

Jasmin Siddiqui is a German-born artist, better known as Hera. For her contemporary street- and graffiti art, she uses a variety of media to create truly emotional works of art. Hera worked with URBAN NATION for the M/13 project in 2018.

Jasmin Siddiqui is of German-Pakistani origin and was raised Catholic-Muslim. Because of her background, there were conflicts before she even started school. She didn't know how to deal with it until she discovered graffiti. Hera is a graphic designer who combines traditional techniques and spray paint to represent mythological creatures and droll satirical scenes. These images often capture contemporary issues of injustice and social awareness.

Hera on Instagram

ÓSCAR AXO

Born in Oaxaca, Óscar Axo has lived in Mexico City since the age of 15. He has a degree in Visual Arts from the Facultad de Artes y Diseño at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM). His interest in art was awakened when he worked as a volunteer at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the UNAM and took part in a project on Mexican muralism; at the end of his time there he graduated with a thesis on “Muralismo Mexicano: productor de la Revolución Mexicana en América” (Mexican Muralism: Producer of the Mexican Revolution in America), focusing all of his artistic work on muralism in order to be able to reach a wider audience.

“I approached a number of muralist friends because I wanted to experience mural art from my own aesthetic and artistic perspective. I began to paint in 2010 and founded the Colectivo Axolotl soon after, with which I undertook various projects on the street, in museums and impressions”, he remarks.
His vivid use of color goes hand in hand with Mexican elements such as masks, traditional dress, and portraits of characters who we encounter on the streets in everyday life.
 
More of Óscar Axo in his Instagram 
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HeraGraff started in the world of street art when she was seventeen, partly because she wanted to show that women can survive in this male-dominated world of hip-hop. She is originally from Pachuca, Hidalgo, a city where it is difficult to build a big movement, even more difficult when you are a woman. That was part of the motivation: "Let's go, I like that" and to be persistent. So here she is now.

More by HeraGraff in our #artbits-Blog
HeraGraff on Instagram

Rafael Medina Martínez, better known as Tomer Linaje, is a self-taught sculptural artist who has been interested in street art ever since high school. Though he started only by signing his name on public walls, over time and with great constancy he made a name for himself among the world’s most highly-reputed Mexican mural artists, from the island of Holbox and Valle de Bravo to São Paulo and Germany: “I am a self-taught artist. I learned through constancy, experimentation, and art history, as well as from videos made by other artists”, he says.
 
His hyper-realistic style portrays Mexicans and animals: from a girl from Puebla to the hugely popular Frida Kahlo; from the famous Mexican dog to the elegant jaguar; but his greatest inspiration is his son, who he has depicted in various ways in his works.

Tomer Linaje auf Instagram
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