Anton Unai

exhibition opening pictures, courtesy of Nick Simpson

Opening: Friday, September 18, 2009 at 7 pm
Berlin, August 18, 2009. “Fighting Gravity“ – the title of Cicleculture’s third mono-exhibition of the free-spirited catalan Anton Unai is characteristic for his art. In an artistic party performance and gallery exhibition, Unai will demonstrate his challenge of gravity. Large-sized installations and works of painting, photography, sculpture, collage and multiple performances can be experienced – hosted by Anton Unai, the master who taught the art of flying.
Unai personifies the creative philosophy represented by Joseph Beuys’ legacy: a profound belief in the sanctity of spontaneity, the poetry of chaos, and the rejection of traditional academia. As a self-taught artist, Unai’s installations are often the result of weeklong “actions,” improvised and created on-site using mostly found objects, or “golden garbage,” salvaged from the streets of Berlin.
Using materials that reflect the urban landscape, ordinary detritus like rusty sheet metal or yesterday’s newspaper, Unai’s work resurrects and reinvents the discarded relics of the modern masses. His art is at once rough and delicate, exposing sentimental and vulnerable humanity through violent gestures, provocative irony and messy compositions that defy traditional aesthetic boundaries. Meta-narratives, pop and subculture artifacts, religious iconography and a wide breadth of literary references are all present in his multifaceted installations, as well as allusions to art historical antecedents ranging from Basquiat’s urban poetry to Sir Howard Hodgkin’s abstract paintings as sculptural objects to Jonathan Meese’s theatrical symbolism.
Anton Unai was born in Spain in 1974. He lived in several European countries before moving to Berlin. His work has been exhibited internationally.

Artist’s Statements
„Let's face it . - There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in the hamburger; there is neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.“
„We take „Modernity“ for granted and Unai’s new works respond neither to a Guru nor to the weather.  He has an unlimited arsenal at his disposal thanks to god-given powers and a new sadistic streak. His vague nature and constant desire for something that does not and  cannot exist leave it open to definition. These NEW images are the judge and Unai is his own executioner.  What we find is that quicksand guzzles you slowly...  . FIGHTING GRAVITY is a broken promise and a threat. It is pure justice without mercy; fast, cruel and calculating.“
"My art work could hang in the British Museum or in a toilet, I just don’ t care.“