Marius Bercea
dal 7/9/2009 al 16/10/2009
Segnalato da
7/9/2009
Marius Bercea
Eleven Fine Art, London
If Through the Copper Woods You Pass. For this exhibition, Marius Bercea has made a new series of works articulated around the notion of migration. In his delicate paintings, migration has come to embody the fragile identity of Romania, a country still coping with the aftermath of Ceausescu's dictatorship.
For his second show at Eleven, Marius Bercea has made a new series of works articulated around the notion of migration. Migration from rural to urban areas – mainly caused in the second half of the twentieth century by communist industrialization – migration from one city to another, migration from Eastern Europe to the West after the fall of the wall, and the tragic migration out of the town of Pripyat Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster in 1986. But instead of producing literal representations of the phenomenon, Bercea focuses on everyday scenes, such as a walk in a park, kids playing, or a lonely figure in the forest. These images are infused with a nostalgic feel of absence; they represent the deserted villages, the sparse playgrounds. In Bercea’s delicate paintings, migration has come to embody the fragile identity of Romania, a country still coping with the aftermath of Ceausescu’s dictatorship.
Bercea’s works refuse an easy, linear interpretation. The faces of his characters remain anonymous, as if to remind us that during communism expressions of individuality were discouraged and people’s only raison d’être was their belonging to the community. This indeterminacy also applies to the landscape. The broad brushstrokes only hint at locations, and the grey backgrounds of the paintings could equally be muddy meadows or grey factory walls. Bercea’s characters are suspended in an undefined territory. Yet the titles introduce elements of narrative in these mysterious tableaux, helping us to unwrap the stories. In the light of its title, Last Coin becomes the poignant image of a couple scrapping the ground to find their last penny. The artist celebrates the intimate; its joys but also its miseries.
Marius Bercea was born in Cluj, the capital city of the province of Transylvania, Romania in 1979. He trained at the University of Art and Design, Cluj-Napoca and continues to live and work in the city.
Marius Bercea has recently been exhibited in the Prague Biennial, Czech Republic, 2009; Under Natural Circumstances, M.O.D.E.M., Pécs, Hungary; Plus 2, MKM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art, Duisburg Innenhafen, Germany. His solo exhibitions include: Time will Tell, Chung King Project, Los Angeles and Yellow Side of Glamour / Melted Guidelines are Passé, Contemporary Gallery of Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu, Romania. In 2010 his work will be shown in After the Fall at the Hudson Valley Centre for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New York.
Private view Tuesday 8th September, 6-8pm
Eleven Fine Art
11 Eccleston Street - London
Gallery Open: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 11.00 - 6.00, Thursday 11.00 - 7.00, Saturday 11.00 – 4.00
Free admission