ANTON UNAI

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 London and lived in several European countries before moving to Berlin. His work has been exhibited internationally and was recently included in the group exhibition The Alternative Philosophy at the Leonard Street Gallery in London.

Selected Exhibitions
»Carambolas«, Sónar Festival, Barcelona, 2003
Mural for Design Mai, Kunst Fabrik, Berlin, 2004
»Lies the Untold Truth«, Catfood Gallery, Berlin, 2006
»Domaine Space« (Instalation), New York, 2006
»Homeless Housing« (Street Aid Installations), New York, 2006
»Unai vs Monk. Boxing Action Paint«, Guillotine, Berlin, 2007
»Me, Myself and Unai« (Solo Exhibition), Circleculture Gallery, 2007
»Berliner Strasse« (Group exhibition), Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2007/2008
»Ultimatum« (200 sqm installation and happening), Berlin, 2008
»The Alternative Philosophy«, (Group exhibition), The Leonard Street Gallery, London, 2008
»The Disenchantment of the Bourgeoisie«, (Solo exhibition), Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, 2008