ALEXANDRU RĂDVAN: Days of a Colossus: Craiova Art Museum - Calea Unirii 15, Craiova, RO

Saturday, 17 June 2023, 17:00 will take place at the Craiova Art Museum - Calea Unirii, no. 15, Craiova - the opening of the solo exhibition "Days of a Colossus" signed by Alexandru Rădvan, curator Cătălin Davidescu and Diana Dochia. The show will be open to the general public from 17 June to 30 August 2023, Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00. The exhibition project is supported by Anaid Art Gallery Bucharest/Berlin in partnership with Craiova Art Museum.

 

Alexandru Rădvan, a leading name in Romanian contemporary art in Romania and abroad, has conceived a sizeable personal exhibition for the Craiova Art Museum. Known for his large-scale paintings, the "Days of a Colossus" exhibition will feature the premiere of "The Last Day on Earth", the largest easel painting of the artist's work ever exhibited, 3 m high and 5.70 m wide. The exhibition includes more than 20 (twenty) large-scale paintings made between 2021 and 2023 and a series of sculptures made between 2022 and 2023, which will be presented to the public for the first time.

 

The solo show "Days of a Colossus" was conceived as a dialogue between the artist's works and the exhibition space they take over. The characters depicted by Alexandru Rădvan are often taken from Greek and Roman mythology to be reinterpreted and reintegrated into contemporary art history. Ulysses, Hercules, Pygmalion, and the Cerberus series are reinterpretations of ancient myths and mythologies through which the artist brings a nuanced commentary to contemporary times. In this new series of works, the Colossus continue the conceptual preoccupations of Rădvan's work over the last ten years. Coming from the darkness of time, the figure of the Colossus takes over the canvas, drawn oversized in charcoal, conveying a sense of tranquillity and calm. 

 

Alexandru Rădvan describes this new series of works: "I am the Colossus. With each passing season that brings me closer to an eternal summer, the Colossus grows around me and traps me like a cocoon. I hear from other people that time is compressing, that the planet is changing, that nuclear holocaust is near, that the sun is dangerous, and that young people know nothing and will destroy the world. I hear that nothing else matters. I see a lot of fear and a lot of indifference; I see empty slogans inside; I see very hurried people. I see a lot of concern. The Colossus picks up the vibrations of the air, filters them through the sites of history and myth, and tells me that humanity has always worried. The Colossus shows me that I can really try to put together the small fragments of peace and compose a calm territory beyond the barrier of cynicism, slogans, correctness, panic, and pressure. A place where they could meet other colossuses of other's people."

 

Alexandru Rădvan (b. 1977, Bucharest) is a graduate of the University of Arts Bucharest, Faculty of Painting, class of Prof. Florin Mitroi and lecturer at the University's Department of Painting. With a PhD in "Image Science" conferred by the University of Bucharest, Alexandru Rădvan began to exhibit constantly since the end of 1998 and became one of the leading representatives of contemporary Romanian art in the 2000s. With numerous solo and group exhibitions, Alexandru Rădvan has exhibited in important contemporary art centres, museums and galleries in Berlin, New York, Rome, and Paris, among which we mention: "Thoughts about Sun and a Myth", Nicolae Minovici Museum, Bucharest (2022), "Mythical Flesh", Anaid Art Gallery, Berlin (2021); "Sculptor's Studio", Arad Art Museum, România (2018); "Divine decadence" Kasteel van Gaasbeek, Gaasbeek, Belgia (2016); "Artistic Education in Bucharest and Romanian Art after 1950", National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, Romania (2015); "Badly Happy", Marina Abramović Institute West (The Performance Art Institute), San Francisco, USA (2010); "Messiahs", Modem-Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, Debrecen, Hungary (2009). His works can be found in important public and private collections in Romania, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Israel, France, Italy, Greece and the USA. He works and lives in Bucharest. Since 2005 he has been represented by Anaid Art Gallery Bucharest/Berlin.

 

For further information on visiting the exhibition, please visit www.muzeuldeartacraiova.ro, and for more details on the works on display, please visit www.anaidartgallery.com. 

 Curator: Diana Dochia

 

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