Berlin Liberty 1990

Jerome Mesnager made this painting, Berlin Liberty, with spray paint and other media that makes you think about walls and freedom. I love the rough texture, like he's painted it right on the side of a building, maybe even the Berlin wall itself at one time. The way the white figure seems to be bursting through this painted tear in the wall, with the bright blue space behind, feels so hopeful. And the drips, the red drips that run down from the word "Love," are like tears, or maybe blood? It's a messy, visceral kind of love, but it's there, scrawled across the surface with the other words that speak to a specific moment in history. That ghostly white figure of freedom really reminds me of Keith Haring, another artist who used public space to share a vision of hope and liberation. But while Haring's figures are bold and graphic, Mesnager's ghost feels fragile, like it could disappear at any moment. It's a powerful reminder that freedom is never guaranteed; it's something we have to keep fighting for, keep painting on the walls.