Quite a few critics have praised the Romanian Pavilion at the 55th International Art Biennale, entitled "An Immaterial Retrospective of the Venice Biennale".
The pavilion is empty, but a group of young performers co-ordinated by Alexandra Pirici and Manuel Pelmuş will keep on staging throughout the duration of the biennale the entire history of this event re-enacting works of art.
Yet there are other works by Romanian artists on display at the Biennale that should be praised, among them as we are going to see in this post.
Ştefan Bertalan's drawings, especially the ones based on geometrical figures, are extremely interesting.
Born in Răcăştie, Romania, in 1930, he was a founding member of the early Romanian neo-avant-garde Group 111 (1963-9) and then a member of Sigma (1970-81).
Both the groups were interested in merging the formal and theoretical properties of constructivism and kinetic art with an interest in scientific research.
Bertelan closely observed and analysed geometrical structures in the natural world and merged in his practice different disciplines, drawing from engineering, biology, mathematics and philosophy. Quite often his works are detailed records of biological processes.
Bertelan, who favoured pencil, felt-tip pens, ink or cotton threads, was particularly fascinated by complex structures and by the possibility of studying snails and spirals from a mathematical (check out the notes and calculations on his drawings) and an artistic and expressive perspective.
The near-infinite representational possibilities that an elemental form contains is also another key point in his drawings.
In some cases single organisms became symbolic microcosms: one of his projects consisted in chronicling the life of a sunflower, starting from its layout and following its life cycle from its germination to its death, taking notes about its evolution through illustrations and in a detailed written diary.
In many ways his works seem to have anticipated the current trend for experimental projects that combine different disciplines together bridging the gaps between art and science or architecture, biology and engineering.
Geta Brătescu is instead one of the most important figures in the Romanian avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s.
Trained in art and literature but forced to abandon her studies at Bucharest's Academy of Fine Arts in 1949, Brătescu resumed them in 1967 and since then she started working in isolation for most of her career, supporting herself working as a graphic designer for Secolul 20, a leading Romanian cultural magazine.
In the mid-'70s she started focusing on film and photography and in the early '80s she created a series of quilted machine-embroidered tactile collages that address broader questions of female identity.
These pieces, entitled "Medeic Callithetic Moves", look like traditional handicrafts, but borrow from classical mythology since they are inspired by the figure of Medea. The abstract oval forms seem to reproduce a head or the map of an island and, functioning like psychic cartographies, they prompt the viewer to stop and ponder, reflect, recollect and imagine.
The theme of memory and recollection is also tackled by another Romanian artist, Andra Ursuta, who in her works often takes inspiration from her roots, life and culture.
Born in 1979, Ursuta often creates darkly ironic work that reference modern Romanian history, but also the conditions of failed and frustrated artists.
For the Biennale she made a series of dollhouse-like models reproducing the kitchen, nutria room, pantry and sleeping room of her childhood home in T. Vladimirescu N. 5, in the Transylvanian town of Salonta.
Though the models look a bit like stages on which visitors may freely conjure up imaginary characters and shadows playing different actions, they are also inspired by a previous artwork entitled "T. Vladimirescu N. 5, An International Psychic Maneuver" (2007-2010) conceived by the artist as a medium to purge her personal traumas.
The abstract and almost alient mass piled up on the floor of one of the models hints at the artist's family using pig fat to make soap, but also embodies the memories that the artist would like to exorcise through her work.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Add to Technorati Favorites
Comments