The banana ? a statement, his weapon: it is Thomas Baumgärtel?s commendation for galleries and other art venues. As one of the first street artists in Germany, the Cologne-based painter has been using his banana stencil as a universal tool for more than thirty years now. Baumgärtel also manipulates the past by transforming ?old masters? or three-dimensional objects with his templates and textual messages. In doing so, he points to painful aspects of contemporary society.