ART ENCOUNTERS | Appearance & Essence | 3-31 OCTOBER 2015 TIMISOARA | ARAD
Souvenirs from Earth
Curator: Liviana Dan
Calina Gallery
1 October - 13 November, M-F 10-18 / Sa 11-15
There has always and frequently been a “Vlad Nancă” moment in the history of recent art. Referring to Vlad Nancă, we know that he represents contemporary art in Romania, that his stylistic trajectory oscillates between pure modernism and DIY counter-culture, that he has got a special connection with minimalism, that he expresses an odd interest in the transformation of history, the alternative Earth, the social space and public confession.
There is a certain romantic preference for real places, style and relish. The themes are actual and invented, concrete and theoretical. They are new, informative, much more important and amusingly presented in an emergent language.
Vlad Nancă presents the conventional items in a conceptual way. Without suggesting any definite goals, he brings apparently disconnected situations together. Nature represents some set props, the constructions are manipulated by materials and the details are carefully selected – parts are introduced to indicate the whole while the disjunctions are thematic.
Lonely and mild, and very familiar, the objects of Vlad Nancă become rather disquieting and bizarre. The realms are domestic and urban. The plants and things seem human, yet there are also possible plants and things. You are almost always caught between illusion and reality, between the artificial and natural. There is a substantial support derived from the place/space, light and atmosphere.
The interpretation always depends on the place where the work is placed.
You might think there is nothing going on, or that something is going to happen soon, or that it has just begun, or that it is already too late. There is a rigorous clarity which examines the modalities approached to set up the narrative. The detail demands a drastic order. The technique emphasises the expression. The visual ends are free. Theory remains suspended between the semiotic flexibility and existential silence.
* This project, ‘Souvenirs from Earth’, is related to the ‘The Installation Projects’ platform which is scheduled at “Calina” Gallery between September 2015 and April 2016. Artists: Iulia Toma, Vlad Nancă, Apparatus 22, Aurora Király. Curator: Liviana Dan.
