english version below

Anton Unai (1974) ist die Personifizierung einer kreativen Philosophie, die im Erbe eines Joseph Beuys verwurzelt sein könnte: ein tiefer Glaube an die Heiligkeit der Spontaneität, die Poetik des Chaos und die Ablehnung des traditionellen akademischen Ansatzes. In Anton Unais autodidaktischer Kunst sind die Installationen oft Ergebnis wochenlanger „Aktionen”, improvisiert und vor Ort kreiert. Dabei benutzt er zumeist Fundstücke oder „goldenen Müll”, aufgesammelt in den Straßen von Berlin.

Anton Unai wurde in Spanien geboren und lebte in zahlreichen europäischen Ländern, bevor er nach Berlin kam. Seine Arbeiten werden international ausgestellt. 


Anton 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. 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 1974 in Spain and lived in several European countries before moving to Berlin. His work has been exhibited internationally.


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

»Volta6 Art Fair Basel«
Circleculture Gallery, Basel, 2010

»Fighting Gravity« (solo show)
Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2009

»Urban Affairs extended« (street art festival)
Stadtbad Wedding, Berlin, 2009

»Self-Portraits« (group show)
Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2009

»Todas las obras de arte deben empezar por el final« (solo show)
Rojo Art Space, Barcelona, 2009

»Berliner Strasse« (group show)

curated by Johann Haehling von Lanzenauer, Berlin, 2008

 

»Urban Affairs« (street art festival)

Berlin, 2008

 

»Ultimatum« (solo show)

Schönhauser Allee 8, Off Space, Berlin, 2008

 

»The disenchantment of the Bourgeoisie« (solo show)

Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2008

 

»The Alternative Philosophy«  (group show)

The Leonard Street Gallery, London, 2008

 

»Berliner Strasse« (group show)

Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2007/2008

 

»Me, Myself and Unai« (solo show)

Circleculture Gallery, 2007

 

»Unai vs Monk: Boxing Action Paint«

Guillotine, Berlin, 2007

 

»Homeless Housing« (Street Aid)

New York, 2006

 

»Domaine Space« (Installation)

New York, 2006

 

»Lies the Untold Truth«

Catfood Gallery, Berlin, 2006

 

»Mural for Design Mai«

Kunst Fabrik, Berlin, 2004

»Fabrik Paliko«

Ibiza, 2004

 

»Carambolas«

Sónar Festival, Barcelona, 2003