A Q U A G R I N G O

Hamburg-based artist Nikias Habermann is known by the name AQUAGRINGO. His greatest interest is in the surfaces of public urban spaces, such as the constantly changing house facades of St. Pauli. Many-layered wall structures can be observed here, composed of graffiti, posters, tags, and stickers. Paper fragments or paint sometimes completely cover the underlying layers. It seems as if a constant playful competition for visibility is in progress. In this sense, urban architecture can also be understood as a resonance body that acts as a medium of sending and receiving as well as a source of inspiration.

In his art, AQUAGRINGO creates pictorial snapshots of these dynamic processes: As a keen observer, he creates sculptural miniatures made of concrete, metal, cardboard and wood, on which he faithfully reproduces the wall structure thus seen. His objects are therefore also pictorial quotations of well-known street artists and crews such as 1UP, PUSH or 1010. In addition to building entrances, AQUAGRINGO also chooses trains, cars or cranes for his miniatures and also takes up his cityscapes in drawings and watercolors.

In his current exhibition "Gringo's Street View" at Paul Roosen Contemporary, the artist will present newly created works, each of which takes up the same motif in three different media and formats. Also shown will be two sculptural series featuring miniatures of garage doors and Mercedes Vans. The allegory to Google is to be understood here as an ironic glance that once again refers to the fast pace of our visual worlds.