Holland has Van Gogh. France has Monet. Italy? Michelangelo, among others. But when it comes to naming famous artists hailing from the Eastern European nation of Romania, you might find yourself scratching your chin and gazing off into the distance for quite some time. Still, despite lacking any real A-listers, the country’s contemporary art scene is thriving, with Romanian creatives increasingly finding themselves thrust into the spotlight of the world stage. Some of the finest are set to appear at Abu Dhabi’s Salwa Zeidan gallery this week. Here are four to look out for.
Carmen Poenaru
Based in the city of Bacau, this prolific painter has work on show in public collections across the globe, and has been winning prizes for her artwork since 1982. Her chaotic, almost schizophrenic repetition of disjointed facial features seems to explore themes of confusion and identity, with bold blocks of colour separated by what look like the frustrated scrawls of a tortured soul. This is especially apparent in a new work being displayed at this month’s show, entitled ‘The Song Of The Desert’. What at first appears to be little more than a sandy-coloured square gradually reveals itself to be full of hidden faces, peering out through the chaos to meet the onlooker’s gaze.
Mihail Gavril
Though well-respected among his European peers, Gavril is perhaps one of the less internationally renowned artists exhibiting at this week’s show. Though his themes and styles vary, he often teams post-impressionist techniques with abstract subject matter and unconventional materials; choosing leather over canvas for certain pieces, including 2008’s ‘The Mount’. His penchant for experimentation sometimes sees traditional and modern aesthetics contrasted within the same work, for example, setting Cezanne-like fruit bowls on top of stark, line-drawn backgrounds in some of his eye-catching still life work.
Mihai Docea
Currently living and working in Costa Rica, Docea claims to have been creating art since the age of two. Fittingly enough, there’s a certain child-like immaturity evident in some of his most recent portraits, or in their shapes and forms, at least – his techniques and use of colour are, by contrast, much more complex. Keep your eyes open for his jumbled, chaotic mixed media works, which promise to be one of the show’s definite highlights, drawing on materials as diverse as silk, leather and brass to complement his layers of chunky, richly textured acrylic paints. Look out for ‘Princes’, in which the 48-year-old succeeds in portraying regal beauty via incautiously applied paints and torn scraps of fabric.
Vasile Pop-Negresteanu
He’s a mural artist by trade, having been commissioned to create work to adorn the walls of Bucharest’s Cotroceni Palace – home to the President of Romania – as well as various churches. Among the works on show at Salwa Zeidan next week is ‘Messenger for Abu Dhabi’, which, as well as featuring the colours of the UAE national flag, also incorporates Islamic patterns, 22 carat gold and a pastel-sketched horse. Whether for good reasons or bad, this piece ought to prove one of the show’s biggest talking points.
‘Contemporary Romanian Art’ runs from September 27 to October 10 at the Salwa Zeidan Gallery. Entry is free
