"Tecnopoéticas ambientales" (Environmental Technopoetics), "Trazos Biomateriales" (Biomaterials and Raw ) and "Materia Prima" (Material Traces) are three group exhibitions by Argentine artists that mix art, science, and technology to make visitors reflect on how to take care of the planet. These proposals are part of the "Shared Planet" project, a campaign that focuses on the behaviors and ways in which the planet is inhabited, carried out at the Recoleta Cultural Center.

On the one hand, "Tecnopoéticas ambientales" exhibits six projects by different artists, winners of the public calls of the MediaLab program of the Centro Cultural de España en Buenos Aires (Cceba). This program seeks to support the generation of works by artists based in Argentina, stimulate research and be a space for production, reflection, and training in art, in intersection with science and technology.

The exhibition takes place in three halls. The works explore different media, supports, and techniques. We can find sound installation, electronic textiles, electro-luminescent intervention, video games, immersive environments, holography, and blown glass objects, designed and produced by 3D printing techniques.

Thus, all the works exhibited participate in some of the technopoetic strategies deployed within the field of contemporary art. I refer, for example, to the hierarchization of the research processes on the idea of the finished piece, the questioning of the strictly objectual dimension of the traditional work, and the confluences of tangible and non-apprehensible materialities.

In these exhibitions, Centro Cultural Recoleta also seeks gender equity among the selected artists. The creations presented here thus contribute to the AGENDA 2030 approved by all member states at the 2015 UN General Assembly.

"Tecnopoéticas ambientales"/ "Trazos Biomateriales"/ "Materia Prima" 

Recently, artist Frank Serge Lehmann presented a solo show in Brașov, an exhibition called “Between Two Worlds. The Privilege of Free Representation”, curated by Alexandra Ilnițchi-Ardelean. That was a premiere in Brașov and in Romania, pointed out the curator.

“Art is a necessity. Creating art stands for some artists right at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid. Others have found their vocation in other professions; in such cases, art rises at the top of their needs as a distinct form of self-fulfillment. Frank Serge Lehmann belongs to the latter category.

The idea behind a work of art is an essential component of conceptual art, alongside contemporary issues and the philosophy of art. This creative approach is sustained by thorough research, documentation and the continuous exchange of ideas between individuals. Aesthetics and craftsmanship are not essential parts of the final work, although Lehmann's works of art form a coherent ensemble. Concepts such as the ephemerality of art, the condition of the artist, the status of art for the individual and then within the community, censorship, autonomy – these are all challenged, but there’s no universal answer and the artist refrains from providing it”, says the curator.

“Lehmann's creative process integrates the act of collecting: quotes, ready-made objects, automatic machines or metal pieces of furniture. These may spark revelations that lead to works of art. He gives them new narrative layers. Machines dating from the 1950s and 1960s are brought into the present-day through interventions inspired by the world of electronics, digital culture and globalized communications, making Lehmann a man of his time.

The exhibition of the artist Frank Serge Lehmann is a welcome premiere in Brașov and in Romania. His artworks are highly suggestive in terms of the dialogue they instigate regarding the status of artists and of the arts. The concepts he works with give us a lot to ponder upon and they represent an anchor in the civilized and developed society we are building, that is a society in which artistic creation is an integral part”. (Alexandra Ilnițchi-Ardelean)

The exhibited artworks, explained by the curator:

ARS INFINITA - 2016, Installation

The artist is keen on working with historically charged objects, giving his works an additional dimension, which is intrinsic to the materials he uses.

ONE-DOLLAR ART - 2017, Floor installation

The one-dollar works are contained in six identical delivery boxes from the 1920s and 1930s. Owing to the blackened dark wood and the sturdy iron fittings, the boxes have an almost eerie quality about them. What were they used for? What was transported in these boxes? Maybe ancient treasures, or forbidden contraband hidden by smugglers?

ART & ETERNITY - 2017, Floor installation, 3 pinball machines

Is art for all eternity? Is this wishful thinking or is it a reality?

ARTIST & ENLIGHTENMENT - 2017, Installation

Do artists provide enlightenment by virtue of their ability to see? Or are they lighting technicians, knowing precisely where to put the spotlight?

VOICE OF ART - 2017, Installation

The title of the installation is also an ironic reference to a contemporary phenomenon, related to the desire to communicate and the desire to be the center of attention: the numerous casting shows around the globe, such as The Voice of Germany, in which vocal talents sometimes end up being ridiculed and ruthlessly humiliated in the name of mass entertainment. Do both desires serve as a lure, presenting an illusory freedom, only to punish whoever takes the bait?

ART & FREEDOM - 2017, Installation

The installation can symbolize Lehmann’s desire to express himself as an artist, free from social, political, monetary and economic constraints. Are all artists in the same position? Thoughts cannot be locked up. Artworks are visualized thoughts. Art doesn’t set you free; art IS free.

JOY OF ART - 2017, Installation

Is the artist taking a creative break? Or is he lacking inspiration? Has he given up or is he about to return?

Albert Kaan’s latest art project was recently presented at Atelier 35, Bucharest. “A liminal space” is known as both a place and a state, a condition of transitioning, a gap in which one's shape or identity is indefinite, the curatorial team informs us. “You may think of it as a crossing point, a state of existence between certainties, between forms and realities; the sensation of in-betweenness. Do we define such a state and the elements within it by what was, what is to be, or by the mere condition of (a) changeover?

The exhibition gathers a series of works that illustrate his journey, that talk about transience in that kind of liminal space, where the forms embodied may appear or leave a trace of their presence, but in the end, none remain”, points out curator Monica Danilă in her statement.

MNAC Bucharest - 8.12.2022-16.04.2023

The exhibition “Dorina Horătău. Landscape Reconstructions”, curated by Călin Dan, part of MNAC Winter Opening 2022, can still be visited in the Marble Hall on the ground floor of the museum until April 16, 2023. We stand before a great project that inevitably leads us to think about ephemerality, the flow of time and the way matter is consumed.

“What happens to the leaves after they dry up and fall off trees? We don't ask that question anymore, because we're confident we know the answer. Dorina Hotărău has discovered a new one. And another circuit of leaves in nature. Thus, inside the museum, a surprisingly deep indoor forest has been created.

Dorina Horătău diligently collected dry leaves from the MNAC grove. She covered the floor of the Marble Hall with them. She “recomposed” the trees outside in the form of metal columns. She amplified the effect on the viewer with the rhythmic sounds of an axe that seems to break both wood and silence. The visitor is left only to discover this organic site, along with the artful circuit of matter”, the curatorial team informs.

“The form and forestry content of a perimeter of the grove in front of MNAC are brought in an abstracted form into the interior space of the building, in the Marble Hall. Each built trunk/container from the inside contains leaves collected from under the “corresponding” tree in the natural environment outside. This site-specific proposal relies on a sensorial experience based on the strong contradiction between the delimited space and its content, with the intention of creating an active, objective reality in which artistic intervention creates a place of introspection, questioning and reflection”, pointed out the artist.

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The curatorial team - Călin Dan, Sandra Demetrescu, Alexandru Oberländer-Târnoveanu;

Production - Ionuț Emilian Petcu, Teodor Horătău, Gheorghe Olteanu, Răzvan Mihalachi, Mihai Toma, Ionuț Marin;

Special thanks to Călin Diaconu, Raisa & Nona Beicu, Adrian Ciocanea, Daniel Costianu, Cristian Niculescu, Daniel Constantinescu, Mihaela Ghiță, Victor Velculescu, Daliana Păcuraru, Cătălin Dârzu, Dan Buzan;

Photopraphy - Serioja Bocsok / MNAC Bucharest;

MNAC pages - https://www.mnac.ro/event/1080/DORINA%20HOR%C4%82T%C4%82U.%20RECONSTRUC%C8%9AIE%20DE%20PEISAJ

For the first time present in the exhibition space of Annart Gallery in Bucharest, the artist Mihai Țopescu brings to the public a new series of works, made in various techniques, materials and textures. "Nodal", Mihai Țopescu's latest artistic project brings together works in charcoal or wood, bronze and textiles, united thematically and symbolically, in multiple forms of representation of the same motif. "Known especially for his works in glass, the artist now proposes a meeting between the object - compact forms inspired by popular architecture - and key images that together produce meanings that merge and swallow each other, functioning on a symbolic level under the sign of the union of opposites, as well like a knot (nodul).

Nodal includes a series of recent works through which the artist reveals an entire Romanian metaphysics, but also major motifs from universal art. Through his twisted rope knots, Mihai Țopescu proposes an incursion among archetypes, binds and unbinds meanings, leaving the most divergent meanings available to the viewer.

This special project, in which the knot is the leitmotif of his artistic quests, seeks a reconciliation between a world with a specific Romanian substrate and influences from universal symbolism, just as the knots join in an interlocking that gives rise to a perfect geometric body, which marks in constantly the creation of the artist", emphasizes Gigi Mihăiță, the curator of the project.

NODAL is an adjective for essential, fundamental, first order, main, basic. The node is the zero point, it is the place of intersection and crossing, it is a verge.

“According to Kirchhoff's first law, also known as the node law: the algebraic sum of the intensities of electric currents that meet in a network node is equal to zero. The sum of the inputs (energy, talent, inspiration, etc.) equals the sum of the outputs (the art object and its qualities). As the ladder goes up and down at the same time, the knot ties and unties. (…) The artist is assertive and ambiguous at the same time. Through his art, Mihai Țopescu asks questions and gives possible answers, encouraging the viewer to be participative in the relationship with these works”, adds the curator.

DANA Art Gallery in Iasi, Romania presents the exhibition "Fragmentarium", a project that includes works of painting, drawing and photography by the visual artist Dacian ANDONI, Assoc.prof. at the Faculty of Arts and Design within the West University of Timișoara.

Curators of the project were Smaranda Bostan and the art critic Doina Emilia Mândru, who gave inspired hermeneutical addresses at the opening, together with the collector Ioan Bizău, the poet and teacher Adrian Alui Gheorghe and Cristian N. Ungureanu, from "George Enescu" National University of Arts in Iasi.

Dacian Andoni was born in Arad, Romania and studied painting at the "George Enescu" Art Academy (now "George Enescu" National University of Arts in Iasi), in the class of professor Adrian Podoleanu. He is a member of the Union of Visual Artists in Romania. He is currently a university professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Western University of Timișoara.

"In his current art collection, Dacian Andoni explores the symbolic and expressive potential of complex and harmonious subjects and visual representations, true centers of positivity in the ancestral archetypal fabric of the world, with his attention focused on the demiurgic condition and vocation of the human being, through transfiguration alchemy of some practices and elements specific to the construction of houses in the traditional Romanian and universal space. To this category of images are added transfigurations of some landscape fragments or "angelic" explorations, perspectives from Above on the anatomy of some localities or a carpet of dry leaves, all of which were received by the artist with the eye of the heart and transposed into pictorial, graphic or photographs of a refined poetics and metaphysical rigor, creations that have the quality of receiving and emitting energy, through the multiple visual stimuli through which the artist generates the power of transposing his own founding concepts and symbols into cosmogonic and poetic representations, equally inspired. Dacian Andoni's images vibrate on the cyclical and alternating rhythm of the attraction of the world and our civilization to the Sky and then to the Earth, in fulfillment of the disturbing and endless fact of Existence." - pointed out Cristian Ungureanu, from "George Enescu" National University of Arts in Iasi.

(...) In the small universe closed between walls, the hortus conclusus cultivated by the painter, the eye that easily encompasses the whole contemplates, searches, compares, chooses, discovers the motif, then transposes it as a fragment in some medium - drawing, photograph or oil painting. The gaze then goes up to the patch of sky on which the clouds roam, illuminating the two workshops, the inner one, another one to be arranged, with the windows to the garden and the perpetual one, open to the sun, the clouds, the city that can barely be guessed beyond the hidden wall of vegetation. (...) - we learn from Doina Mândru, art critic.

The exhibition opened on November 15, can still be visited until December 9, 2022.

A white rabbit in a cup, a monkey, or a secreter cat with little drawers are some of the works presented by the self-taught pop artist and designer Edgardo Gimenez at the age of 80. The exhibition rescues the game and the beauty so necessary in life for this optimistic artist who considers that "the true art is the one that does not leave you unharmed". The artist, through his works, projects a way of living and creating that combines a formula where fantasy and reality coexist in objects, paintings, sculptures, and furniture.

"Había Una Vez" is an invitation to travel through the magical world of the artist. Giménez exhibits in the gallery large paintings and his "Sinfonía Venusina" (1993), a new pink tower with lights inside. He also exhibits iconic works such as his famous monkeys, and his classic furniture such as "Mueble de Mandriles y Nubes" (1967), "Mueble Palomar" (1978), and a black lacquered wood "Gato Secretaire".

Giménez's superficial style comes from the quality of imitating "human things" which leads him to "make a caricature of the human being", and as part of a game, to humanize them. The first work that welcomes the visitor is a tribute to Lewis Carroll: a large white rabbit inside a cup with an ace of spades and its respective spoon in pop style, made this year. This sculpture takes up another of the artist's works, "Tea Time" (1978), and refers to Alice in Wonderland, but resized. According to Giménez, Carroll's book mixes fantasy and reality, something that directly challenges his work.

Throughout the exhibition, we can appreciate how the artist transforms everyday objects and installs them in a space of enjoyment, imagination, and resonance. The works exhibited at MCMC Gallery demonstrate why Giménez is a multifaceted artist. His pop world is full of humor, references, playfulness, and joy. The show also features Cynthia Cohen as a guest artist.

"Había Una vez"

Location: MCMC Gallery (Contemporary Art Gallery), José León Pagano 2649, C1425 CABA, Buenos Aires (Argentina) 

Opening Date: 19th October, 2022

End Date: 20th December 2022

Working hours: Monday-Friday: 11am to 7pm

Official website: https://mcmcgaleria.com/es

November 8-30, 2022 / at the GreenHouse, St. Atanasie Street no. 25, Iasi 

“Between Two Wars” is a project that presents 8 new artistic productions by artists established and active in Eastern Europe.

The initiative to bring these works together in a group exhibition in Iasi is based on the orientation of the organizer towards local artists in a regional framework (Eastern Romania, Czech Republic, Republic of Moldova) through the production of contemporary art organically realized for this exhibition. The project was named after the film “Between Two Wars” by filmmaker Harun Farocki, completed in 1978.

"The works are conceptually indirectly aiming at the conflict that recently started on Romania's border, and rather show different mechanisms of perception on it, but also aspects of the political and economic consequences in countries located in the proximity of the war, as felt by the artists in the places where they live and activate.

The exhibition thus outlines an artistic production made in a period defined by a constant expectative, in an attempt to responsibly and reflexively integrate current global issues, and not to deeply destabilize existing local cultural structures and efforts to gain a better understanding of the situation we are in", we learn from curator Delia Bulgaru.

The exhibition, co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration, is part of the cultural project BETWEEN TWO WARS, organized by satelit between August and November 2022.

Silvia Amancei & Bogdan Armanu (RO): Rendered Hopeless, 2022

Florin Bobu (RO): BIИE AȚI VEИIT!, 2022

Elena Chirila (MD): The war beyond my social media feeds: near or far?, 2022

Andreea Cioară (RO): unwelcome, 2022

Cezar Lăzărescu (RO): Memories, 2022

Andrei Timofte (RO): Vibrant Democracies: From passion to profit, 2022

Smaranda Ursuleanu (RO): alternative drawings, 2022

Viktor Vejvoda (CZ): Pohlednice z minulosti a budoucnosti / Postcards from past and future, 2022