Ohne Titel

Una Cualquiera, from Essen, is active as a member of several notorious party, art and graffiti crews within the urban subculture of the Ruhr region. Under her real name, she is also known for her murals, as well as her installations and stage designs for alternative festivals and theatre productions. In her studio, the artist also works with linocuts and paper-cut collages, exploring an artistic vision that, in an elusive way, comes close to the sensibilities of classical modernism. Her visual language has evolved from ornamental, figurative representations to generous, dynamic free-form abstraction. However, a return to earlier styles, a remix or the next twist are never ruled out.
Cualquiera now combines working methods from both indoor and outdoor contexts: drawing on the aesthetic qualities of her linocuts, she creates the visual language for abstract train graffiti. The paper forms from her studio context are applied – albeit on a much larger scale – to walls in the urban environment. This environment becomes the scale and starting point for her work. What she finds becomes part of the composition as she spontaneously restructures the chaos of the surfaces. Large-format elements made from paper of various origins are created directly on site, loosely layered and arranged on the wall using a mixture of paste and varnish. In doing so, Cualquiera relinquishes control over the planning and surrenders to the process. Cutting, arranging and gluing are carried out subjectively and in response to the situation. Our old friend Matisse would give a brief nod from above.