On the tracks of Señor Schnu

“Life is beautiful” – the Audimax underpass in Aachen

Once again Senor Schnu has struck again in his hometown Aachen: colourful Schnus in different colours, styles and techniques illuminate the formerly gloomy Audimax underpass at the UniCampus of RWTH Aachen University. Since the opening on 19.6.2020, the “Unti” – whose name was only finally established by Schnu’s factory – can be visited, walked through and driven through.

Floral ornamentation and Chinese propaganda

In the record time of 13 days, Senor Schnu has left a great variety of his styles, typographies and floral ornaments on the walls of the “Unti” on a wall surface of approximately 600 m². Each of his motifs spreads joy, positive messages and content, allowing the visitor to dive emotionally into the colourful Schnu world. His influences range from Chinese propaganda, comics and cartoons to abstract painting, which the artist experimented with in the underpass. In a picture in the underpass, abstractly reproduced from a photograph, the artist has incorporated his childhood friends of many years – but also friends who helped him to realize the project. Everyone should be able to find himself in this world, but also to lose himself at the same time – in the colour, in the details of the ornaments as well as in abstract forms, which wer born of the spirit of Schnu and out of 400 cans and 150 litres of wall paint.

Unti.life

The own Instagram Account of this underpass @unti.life shows the cult character. The dark hodgepodge of dirt, paint but also event posters of the 90s, tags and wax has always had a charm on the alternative scene in Aachen – especially on the skater scene. Senor Schnu also spent formative moments of his youth skating in the underpass. So it was not only an art project, but rather a personal matter of the heart – to give something back to the city and the alternative scene in Aachen.

Unfortunately there are still very few places in the city dedicated to youth culture. In terms of statistical figures, this sounds contradictory in the first place, especially when you consider that the RWTH is not only one of the largest universities in Germany with 80,000 students, but also accounts for half of Aachen’s city population.

Thanks to the commitment of ASTA and also the City of Aachen, the project was financed in June 2020 and implemented by Senor Schnu. An online survey, in which everyone could take part, clearly decided in favour of Schnu in a tendered competition. Aachen’s mayor Marcel Philipp as well as the rector of the RWTH Ulrich Rüdiger had the pleasure to feel like a street art artist and to tag their name at the opening ceremony.

facebook.com/senorschnu
instagram.com/senor_schnu