FREEDOM IN THE GRAY ZONE

Stefan discusses the experimental films and photographs produced by Romanian artists under Communism that continue to resonate in the free-market era. It's impossible to come away from many art fairs and international biennials with the impression that Romanian contemporary art is defined large...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Art in America (1939) 2015-09, Vol.103 (8), p.122
Main Author: Stefan, Olga
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Art history
Culture
Motion pictures
Photography
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Stefan discusses the experimental films and photographs produced by Romanian artists under Communism that continue to resonate in the free-market era. It's impossible to come away from many art fairs and international biennials with the impression that Romanian contemporary art is defined largely by the work of painters from the city of Cluj, who found critical and commercial success in the years following the 1989 revolution. The Romanian pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale, organized by the ministry of culture and the Romanian Cultural Institute, features the work of young Cluj painter Adrian Ghenie, whose richly colored canvases, blending figuration and abstraction, are highly prized by collectors. However, the story of Romanian art since the l960s can be told from another perspective, one that foregrounds experimental--if visually understated--work in film and photography.
ISSN:0004-3214