opening: February 23, 7pm
Artists: Cristian Avram, Alexandru Lupea, Tincuța Marin, Bogdan Rusu, Eliza Pușcașu (Stanciu), Matei Țigăreanu
Curator: Roxana Modreanu
This exhibition comprises works from winners selected by the Plan B Foundation of the Expo Maraton competition organized by the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca. It brings together a group of young artists who manage, through their works, to construct powerful and lucid artistic discourses on contemporary society. As students, or fresh graduates, Cristian Avram, Alexandru Lupea, Tincuța Marin, Eliza Pușcașu (Stanciu), Bogdan Rusu and Matei Țigăreanu are confronted with traditional representations specific to their respective media of artistic expression, managing to offer personal and original solutions in the context of contemporary art. By highlighting their own inner worlds, and by creating connections with various other fields – from the word of art, or from tangential spheres of activity – the six artists reflect upon the world in their immediate vicinity, shedding light on subjects of interest to their generation, from the absurdity and monotony of everyday life, saturated as it is with the drive towards sensationalism, to a return to tradition, to nature, or to the inner world. They also touch upon issues specific to the world of art, such as methods of visual representation, or the transmutation of functional objects into eminently aesthetic things. Displaying a fresh vision on social phenomena specific to contemporary society, the six artists reinterpret them in a personal fashion, in accordance with a synthetic perspective of the surrounding world.
In this context, Talking ’bout my generation highlights the increasingly consistent presence on the artistic scene of a new generation of artists which is beginning to differentiate itself more and more poignantly from previous generations, offering the public new preoccupations and methods of investigating the contemporary social environ. The six artists break away from previous conventions and bring a new windfall, animated by an expressive force which can only derive from belonging to a new generation.
Cristian Avram (b. 1994), first year painting Masters student, remains faithful to a type of figurative representation in painting, using this method of working to shape a world in which the interior life of the represented characters reifies the whole shown scene. The domestic environment seems steeped in the internal turmoil of the individuals creating it, an effect which can be felt even in those scenes in which only the environment itself is represented. The fragmented presence of landscape, visible through windows in the domestic space, contributes to sketching an atmosphere of continuous expectancy of an extraordinary phenomenon, something which would prompt a spectacular breakout from daily routine.
Exhibitions (selection): Bridges, group exhibition, Arte Boccanera Gallery, Milan (2018); Starpoint Prize 2017, group exhibition, Victoria Art Center, Bucharest (2017); Cutting Edge III, group exhibition, Museum of Art Cluj-Napoca, (2016).
Alexandru Lupea (b. 1984) is a graduate of the photo-video-computerized image processing Masters. His interests gravitate towards visual poetry. Working predominantly in new media, from video to animation or installation, he transforms text into an object of contemplation. His works are a continuous exercise in searching for new modes of visual representation, which must break away from classical traditions, and which must also be atypical forms of illustrating abstract thought to the highest degree.
Exhibitions (selection): Insight Attempt, Matca, Cluj-Napoca (2017); The Apartment, FuReview, Berlin (2017); The Beam (Sound Object), Banffy Manor, Bonțida, 2017.
Tincuța Marin (b. 1995) is a first year Masters student specializing in painting. She builds redoubtable scenarios in which the entirety of daily life seems to reconfigure itself as an alternative realm. Elements which can be easily identified as belonging to the immediate reality are transformed, reinterpreted and integrated into a personal world. The expressionistic manner in which this alternative reality is shaped, as a spawn of the artist’s imagination, offers clues pointing to the anxieties which seem to populate daily living in increasing numbers.
Exhibitions (selection): BREAKING RULES, group exhibition, Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca (2017); Trashexploitation, group exhibition, H33, Cluj-Napoca (2017); Start Point, group exhibition part of the competition, VictoriaArt Center, Bucharest (2017).
Eliza Pușcașu (Stanciu) (b. 1994), graduate of the Textile Design Masters, she creates ambient installations which integrate and reinterpret elements and materials typical of the folkloric imagination. Her refined drawings, transferred upon large fabrics manages to create a bridge between the sphere of tradition and craftsmanship, and the working methods specific to the contemporary art world. Through this mode of working, the artist succeeds in highlighting the durability of a certain type of symbolism and decorative vision, which can be present and retain its significance in modern modes of representation as well.
Exhibitions (selection): Textiles Today, group exhibition, ORIZONT Gallery, Bucharest (2017); Winter salon, group exhibition, Art Museum Cluj-Napoca (2016); Collective exhibition, EBS Tower, Cluj Napoca (2016); Alt Universe, Mariana Berinde Gallery, Cluj-Napoca (2015).
Bogdan Rusu (b. 1994), second year Masters student specializing in Ceramics-Glass-Metal, directs his activity towards a synthesis between traditional ceramics working techniques, sculpture, and contemporary design, producing object straddling the border between functionality and aesthetics. He integrates elements specific to illusionism (a personal preoccupation of his) into his works, succeeding in offering an unusual perspective, both on the artistic practices and design elements, and the world of magic.
Exhibitions (selection): Form Space, Dokuma Fabrikasi, Antalya (2015); Photo Studio, group exhibition, Olbia Gallery, Antalya (2015).
Matei Tigăreanu (b. 1993), is a graduate of the painting Masters, and has a knack for ironically capturing moments of daily life. His works let the viewer glimpse the specific life styles of certain sub-cultures, as well as the excesses which often leave their mark on an individual’s attempts to showcase their belonging to their respective social circle. Usually starting from wordplay, the artist shows a world in which individuals concerned with the glamour promoted by the media, stumble upon solutions of visual self-representation which are disturbingly close to the realm of kitsch.
Exhibitions (selection): Close Encounters of the Ninth Kind, group exhibition, Double Tree by Hilton, Cluj-Napoca (2018); Bombastic, group exhibition, 5th Floor, Bucharest (2017); Gigital, group exhibition, Launloc Gallery, Cluj-Napoca (2017); After Party, Șoimii Patriei Gallery, Cluj-Napoca (2014);
