For more than ten years, the Berlin-based artists Lynn Lehmann and Dennis Gärtner, who work together as Zebu, have been turning unremarkable walls and surfaces into vivid geometric paintings. Moving between pattern and representational abstraction, the pair draw on their parallel work in illustration and graphic design to build compositions that interrupt the everyday.

Much of their practice is studio-based, which makes murals a different kind of opportunity. Working outdoors opens up broader possibilities in a variety of settings, and the artists have said there is something special about surprising people in the middle of an ordinary routine with an unexpected visual jolt.

Zebu is currently experimenting with a more intuitive approach to murals as a complement to planning extensively in advance. The shift, the duo say, has been exciting and surprising, teaching them to trust the process more and restoring a sense of fun to the painting itself.

The result is a body of public work that treats the city wall as a canvas for colour and rhythm rather than a backdrop. In a practice that bridges illustration, design and painting, the murals bring the energy of the studio out into streets where anyone, not just gallery visitors, can encounter it.

The duo's murals sit within a wider Berlin tradition of painting on walls, but their language is closer to graphic design than to graffiti. Bold shapes, flat colour and rhythmic repetition do the work, turning a facade into something between a poster and a painting. For passers-by, the effect is immediate: a grey surface becomes a moment of surprise, colour and play.