Alexandru Ciubotariu

Alexandru Ciubotariu was born in 1979 in Calarasi (Romania). He spent his childhood and youth in Constanta. In 2004 he graduated from the »George Enescu« Academy of Arts in Iasi / Iassy, with a thesis on the history of comics worldwide. In Romania, Alexandru Ciubotariu is one of the most famous street artists. He is known as »Ciubi« or »Sir Squared Cat«: The name was inspired by one of his characters, »the squared cat«, which is now seen on many buildings in Bucharest.
The artist published his first cartoon in 1995 in a local newspaper; since then, he has illustrated 15 books and contributed cartoons to 70 newspapers and magazines in Romania, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In the interview carried out by Annett Müller, on www.punkto.ro, Alexandru Ciubotariu talked about his work as a street artist: »Street art is an art that is highly visible, without having to wait for a gallery to ask for your illustrations. You can use the entire city as your exhibition space. […] I’ve often created my art on stickers that one could pull off the back walls of the houses. This was always an impressive justification whenever I got caught by the police. Personally, I am also impressed by the fact that my art is not destructive, since I only use abandoned houses for a few hours as my improvised studio. The places where I choose to display my art are abandoned, grey, sad. However, with minimal effort one can transform them into urban reference points. A place that people start talking about suddenly, recalling it and rejoicing it, is enough to know that they saw something different in that part of the city. A grey corner, a grey, lifeless tunnel can be completely transformed [by street art]. Also, the abandoned houses regain their functionality through artworks and therefore get a second life, practically a second chance.«
Alexandru Ciubotariu has received almost 20 awards for his works, which have been presented in more than 50 graphic exhibitions. His latest publications were the comic strips album »Pisica pătrată« (2010, tr. The Squared Cat) and »Istoria benzii desenate romanesti« (together with Dodo Nita, 2010, A History of Romanian comic strips). The artist lives and works as a freelance graphic artist in Bucharest.

© internationales literaturfestival berlin

Străinii
Europolis
Constanta, 1995

Die Geschichte von Ich
Hardcomics
Bukarest, 2005

Stickers.
From the First International Sticker Awards
Die Gestalten Verlag
Berlin, 2006

Pisica pătrată
Vellant
Bukarest, 2010

Istoria benzii desenate româneşti
[Mit Dodo Niţă]
Vellant
Bukarest, 2010