EPREUVE D'ARTISTE Gallery in Antwerp/ Belgium will host the Romanian graphic exhibition Old
Ageless Youth & Deathless Life. The opening is on Friday, the 16th
of September, at 20.00. The exhibition is open from 16th of
September until the 2nd of October 2016.
The gallery is open Saturday and Sunday, from 14.00 to 18.00 and during the week, by appointment (03 2386858).
The project Old Ageless Youth & Deathless Life speaks about life's ages and the way we pass through them. Unique and universal, alone and together, young and old, the humans are living every day thousands of moments without knowing if they belong to them or to the others. As humans, we share sentiments and sensations, feelings and emotions, willing and dedication. For a creator, all those sentiments and feelings become artwork; they are shared to the others and differently perceived by the public. For an artist, the artwork becomes a will, and his creation brings to him Old Ageless Youth & Deathless Life. Curator: Silvia Suciu
Eleven Romanian artists belonging to different generations have been invited to join this project: Aurel Bulacu (b. 1947), Câmpean Tudor (b. 1983), Răzvan Caratănase (n. 1985), Răzvan Dragoş (b. 1992), Emilia Kiss (b. 1962), Rada Niţă (b. 1989), Dragoş Pătraşcu (b. 1956), Ovidiu Petca (b. 1958), Florin Stoiciu (b. 1965), Elena Surdu Stănescu (b. 1942), Constantin Udroiu (b. 1930 - d. 2014).
"There is no end, no beginning. There is only the unlimited passion for life!" This Federico Fellini's quote matches perfectly with Aurel Bulacu's graphics, in which we guess a melancholic regret for lost and secret lovers, the gentle smile of the artist remembering those shiny happy days at the seaside, surrounded by his joyfull friends and models. This artist is never wasting a moment to create: in his lightly studio situated on Ephorie street in Bucharest, always listening to music on an old radio or to his favorite CDs, with one or two friends chatting in front of a glass of wine, he stands at his desk, drawing and dreaming to some exotic islands with beautifully marbled skin women. In front of the paper, he becomes purified and powerful, without sins and guilt, without fear for the future, humble before the uniqueness of his sacred mission.
Tudor Câmpean's graphics reveal the force of a young artist using traditional techniques to express the vision of a new world. Rooms, doors, windows, towers, shelves, a chair, a bed... - they form the geometry of a domestic space with which the artist plays in his own way. He is the master of the space he makes us discover; and this space adapts to its inhabitants. The poetic of this space is revealed in black and white: black has depth and white brings light. A curious nature, Tudor takes the world the way it is and rebuilds it after his own perception, in shadows and lightening. But the main character of this universe is the human being. There is always a magical relationship between the human being and the space: the human shapes the space and the space transforms the human. We cannot conceive them one without the other. The space becomes a nest of dreaming, a shelter for imagination. And the human being is the master of this universe.
Răzvan Caratănase (called by his friends Zuzu) creates through his woodcuts a world where the architectural elements are used in order to reveal the beauty and the grandeur of the body. There is a relation between architecture and human in his works: he imagines a sort of "dance", a balance that makes these two elements interplay, explore, meet and influence one another. The human interacts and gives sense to the space; both space and human communicate in a two-way dialogue. As a whole, in his artworks we can perceive a sort of dialogue developed on multiple levels: physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Răzvan Dragoş' series of etching - Artes Mechanicae (2015) - is based on the idea of combining modern withtraditional: modern elements are treated through a traditional technique, creating a relationship between the basics of the element and its complete shape. The technique he is using is matching perfectly with the shapes and details of the sophisticated machines he is creating.
Emilia Kiss is a sensitive artist who appeals to art in order to express her inner feelings and to share them with others. And what is The Cup (2016) she depicts? It can lead us at the idea of the truth we are looking for, a symbol for fertility and happiness, a blossoming flower, it can be full or empty... A feminine character is touching the cup by her right hand, in a gesture of giving, of bringing happiness to others, of sharing her contentment and positive energy. She wears a translucent veil, suggesting that the body is not an object to reveal or unveil, but a space to be incorporated and animated.
Rada Niţă is a magic story teller wondering between the past and the future and finding the appropriate way to represent the present moment. "My works reflect to a large extent my deep interest in both Romanian and Slavic folklore and mythology, customs and peasant beliefs. Definite influences from Medieval art and old manuscripts can also be noticed. The interplay of cultural worlds shapes a very personal, subjective bestiary. In this manner I examine the ways in which folk beliefs and customs still resonate with contemporary art." (Rada Niţă)
In the series of linocuts The Melancholy of History (1987-1988), Dragoş Pătraşcu is speaking about the past, as something that prefigures understanding in almost every culture. History has memory and memories are moments that mark cultures and groups of individuals, they are a collection of mental images drawn from sense impressions and extended in time.
Ovidiu Petca is one of the first artists to have used the digital medium in his works. The series Piano music for four hands (2016) emphas the idea of the reality that, before being figurative, is abstract. For Ovidiu Petca reality embodies new shapes and senses, being personalized; the image is built from accidental to absolute, from the object to its geometry. His works express feelings, transform the shapes from the nature and reveal a secret harmony through the colors' vibration and the forms' movement. Piano music for four hands transfers the viewer in the fascinating and glacial world of Henrik Strindberg's music.
Florin Stoiciu's graphic work is populated by feminine characters, as images synthesizing love: the charm of the view, the lust of touch, the thought's drunkenness after the moment of possession. Through centuries, the feminine charm has always played an important part, contrasting with the main masculine attribute - force and power. In order to depict the suave movement and grace of feminine body, the artist becomes Mask: "Are we the MASK? The Mask is inside of us, the Mask overtakes us, the Mask is allover! The Mask is setting, the Mask is sticking, the Mask is embedded, the mask folds, the Mask is surrounding us! The Mask appears, the Mask disappears, the Mask is becoming, and the Mask is interposing! The Mask is opening, the Mask is closing!"(Florin Stoiciu)
Elenei Surdu Stănescu is living in love! In order to live in love you have to keep your soul always young and independent, open to all the challenges that life can bring. In her series Loving couples (2016),Elenea Surdu Stănescu creates an edifice for love; the material is shaped by the skilled hands of the sculptor and to transmit her sentiments. Her wish for beauty and perfection becomes an aspiration, a desire and a responsibility!
Constantin Udroiu: Without a real purpose, art is an illusory postulate. The metaphor is substitute by the concrete to put order in the abstract. The reality is instantly mirrored through art.
CONTACT:
Epreuve d'Artiste Gallery
Oudekerkstraat 64 | 2018 Antwerp | Belgium | 0032-0477234095| http://www.epreuvedartiste.be/
