Description

This piece from Steit’s Gradient Graffiti series explores the sensory pairing Smell & Scent, drawing direct reference to ‘Eau de Cologne’, the legendary fragrance that originated in the city.

Layered stencils of Cologne’s historic crest—featuring the three golden crowns and eleven black drops—repeat in shifting colours and transparencies. Red and white, the official colours of the city, anchor the composition, while a cascade of blue, yellow, green, violet, and orange crests symbolises Cologne’s cultural diversity.

The gradient spray work blurs edges and boundaries, evoking the way scent and identity intermingle—subtle, persistent, and impossible to isolate. Each colour becomes a metaphor for a different community, memory, or origin, highlighting the multicultural richness of Cologne’s present.

This is Cologne not as a static image, but as a living sensory city—one you can almost smell.

Created in Cologne, July 2025.

Original artwork specifications

• Stretched Canvas
• Glossy Multi colour Spray paint
• 60 x 60 x 1.5 cm
• Unique artwork

Canvas may have a slight size deviation up to a few millimetres.