It’s true, you can dance water ballet to “Swan Lake”. But you can also skateboard to “Possessed to Skate”. Some people like their kicks a bit rougher. And after each bail, you morally rebuild yourself with Suicidal Tendencies: “Looks like a magic carpet ride / Six foot aerials, inverts backside / Optical illusion it must be / He redefines insanity.”
The Pure&Crafted tackles this insanity head on. In the courtyard of the Napoleon Komplex, not only a few ramps will be set up, but trick-suitable sculptures will be composed into a skate ground. The artist Roberto Cuellar intervenes in urban space worldwide with his skateable sculptures. Between art and sport, he creates pop art outdoor furniture for skating, among others for Adidas and Converse.
“Skateboarding is a highly individual and versatile form of expression and therefore per se also an art form.” – Roberto Cuellar
The works of Roberto Cuellar move between installation and sculpture, interior design and urban art. At the age of twelve, the Mexican-born artist discovered skateboarding for himself and realized that it is also a special form of treating self-images and self-expression. Even before his studies at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, he created his first skateable installations.
Cuellar’s formal characteristics are his clear geometric and graphic formal language. Technically complex in construction, he creates sceneries from materials such as wood, steel, plastic, lighting and other components that oscillate between artistic forms of expression.
These skateable installations are characterized by the idea of interaction: they are in formal language exchange with the space that surrounds them. Building on the exploration and research of this space, they transform it, shape it, and aim to establish lasting new and durable modes of use. Moreover, Cuellar’s works invite the audience to step out of their viewing-contemplative stance and walk and navigate the sculptures. They become performers and shape the works by leaving traces of wear and tear. In this way, site-specific works are created whose urban context is reflected in materiality and formal language.
His skateground at the Pure&Crafted leaves no one out. You can wallride on the container or wave around the miniramp – it’s not about performance here, but fun. DJs and live music set the groove to your grind.
