Sponk’s artistic journey began in 2005 when he entered the graffiti scene. Like every sprayer, he chose a personal synonym and thus Dan Geffert became ‘Sponk’. From that moment on, he conquered Gelsenkirchen by night and made his mark on the local street art scene.
In addition to his night-time work, Sponk also experimented at official ‘Halls of Fame’, where he worked together with other artists on large-format concept walls. In these projects, each sprayer painted their artist name side by side on the same wall, all using the same colour tones. The background was carefully designed to embed the lettering in a harmonious composition.
Over the next five years, Sponk travelled all over Germany to further develop his style and exchange ideas with other artists. The highlights of this period included his work on a two-kilometre-long Hall of Fame in Brandenburg and regular appearances in Bochum’s Uni-Tunnel, one of the best-known Halls of Fame in North Rhine-Westphalia. The disused Südbahnhof railway station in Dortmund was also a popular location for his art.
He received a special honour in 2007/08 when he was allowed to paint together with the world-famous sprayers Atom and Cantwo – a significant milestone in his artistic development.
Sponk’s perfectionism drove him to break new ground, which was often criticised in the scene. He integrated unconventional techniques such as stencils, adhesive tape and tools such as brushes and airbrushes into his work. For him, it was always the result that counted, and so he began to create his works on smooth wooden panels in order to achieve maximum precision and innovative colour compositions.
He masked individual work steps with adhesive tape and created delicate colour gradients in the outlines as well as sharp-edged drop shadows over complex background structures. These unique stylistic devices quickly became a trademark of his work.
The next logical step was to expand his graffiti art into the third dimension. Sponk began sawing the painted wooden panels into the shape of letters. With the combination of masking technique and three-dimensional design, he created works of art that went far beyond classic graffiti. These innovations made him a pioneer in the scene and allowed his works to appear in a completely new light.
On 27 July 2024, guitarist Paul Landers went on a special bike tour during the Rammstein concerts at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. He visited the impressive mural by artist Sponk in the Gelsenkirchen-Resse district. The artwork shows a monumental Rammstein
