Circle Culture, led by Johann Haehling von Lanzenauer and co-owned by his Hamburg-based business partner Dirk Staudinger, has always had an ability to look beyond the boundaries of genre and convention to spot innovative art. Starting out as a project space in 2001, the gallery quickly became the go-to spot for art inspired by urban subcultures. But, rather than focusing on works that fitted with the urban art cliché, Circle Culture was always pushing the artistic boundaries of the gallery, seeking works that one would not automatically associate with urban art: rather than merely showing graffiti, instead, abstract works, highly conceptual murals and installations were also on display.