In April and May, between the Catholic and Orthodox Easter, CREART Gallery in Bucharest has played host to an exhibition by the visual artist Eugen Raportoru entitled Resurrection and curated by Daniela Sultana. The colour palette of the works on show, the artist’s usual greys, alongside subtle components, point to an artist with a complex personality. Curator Daniela Sultana explained at the opening of the exhibition:
“Welcome to the opening of the solo exhibition by the visual artist Eugen Raportoru, at CREART, the Centre for Creation, Art and Tradition of the City of Bucharest. As we’ve already accustomed our public, at least for the last year, we are trying to link the theme of the exhibition to various holidays or to special times of the year. The current exhibition is dedicated to the Easter holidays and is held between the Catholic and Orthodox Easter. It’s in the form of an installation, in line with the gallery’s exhibition programme. It consists of three large paintings, each of which depicts a cross, like in the Bible, in Christ’s crucifixion on Golgotha along with the two thieves. It’s a sombre scene, taking its inspiration from the Bible and the presentation of the works reflects this. While previous installations consisted of a great number of exhibits and were very colourful, this exhibition is monochromatic and minimalist: only three works, in three colours: white, black and grey.”
At the opening of the exhibition, to complement the spirit of the exhibition, the gallery was imbued with the smell of incense, designed as a purifying olfactory ingredient. Curator Daniela Sultana says this was all part of the concept:
“The olfactory element was proposed by the artist to complement the artistic concept. He’s staged some legendary exhibitions in the past, one of which was purchased by the Museum of Contemporary Art, another was staged by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, at the Peasant Museum in Bucharest and the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale. This project is in line with Eugen Raportoru’s artistic practice which sees him oscillating between painting, which is the medium for which he became known, with its signature colour palette, his emblematic greys, and installation art.”
Daniela Sultana, the curator of the Resurrection exhibition also made a short presentation of Eugen Raportoru’s artistic career:
“Trying to make a presentation of Eugen Raportoru as a visual artist, we can start by saying that this year he was awarded by the president of Romania with the Cultural Merit Order. He graduated from the Arts University, where he got his bachelor’s degree and a masters degree. He has been a member of the Union of Fine Artists since 2010. He is a many-time recipient of the Union’s award for painting and is a very active artist who exhibits a lot, both in solo and group shows, at biennales, salons, local art fairs like Art Safari and the Contemporary Art Salon, at the Romanian Peasant Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. He has also displayed his works abroad, at the Royal Art Academy in London, at the Vatican under the UNESCO aegis, the Ethnic Museum in Oslo, and in Stockholm. In Romania, his work has been displayed in most museums across the country, including the Bucharest City Museum, the Pavel Șușară Museum for Contemporary and Modern Art, at the Brukenthal in Sibiu, at the Art Museum in Galati, the Art in Museum in Constanta, in Targu Jiu, at the Gorj County Museum and in many contemporary art centres and galleries.”
Curator Daniela Sultana also made a summary of other projects she is working on and which will go on show at CREART Gallery:
“CREART will also host an event as part of the Romanian Design Week, an installation by Dorin Negrău, a Romanian fashion designer with an international career. After that we will host solo exhibitions with a note of installation art, given the size of our gallery. Internationally, we will be staging an exhibition at the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice.”