Acces liber
2025
The name of this exhibition, “Iconia”, stems from the Greek word eikōn, which stands for image or representation. The term icon devirves from the same root and has mainly been used to describe sacred images from Christian traditions. The town of Iconium (known today as the Turkish town of Konya) and the Greek word eikōn share the same etymological roots. This correspondence, by no means coincidental, is a fertile ground, historically as well as culturally. Both have played significant parts in a regional historical and religious context.
In a larger cultural and social sense, ”an icon” can be a person, an object or a symbol of major significance. In a technological sense, the icon is a tiny image or a pictogram, shown in a user`s graphical interfaces to represent programs, functions, or files.
By choosing this name, the Iconia exhibition recalls the idea of the image as a core element of the human experience, bringing forth its cultural and historical dimensions, as well as its enduring influence on the interactions pervading contemporary society.
Iconia does not seek an answer to the question what is an image; rather, it strives to answer what it does: how an image can seduce, divide, and unify. In a world oversaturated with symbols vying for the top spot, the exhibition urges us to question who or what it is that controls the visual lexicon of our age, and what new common chemistry we might conjure up, if we only dared to change the formula.
Artiști
Taisia Corbuț
Taisia Corbuț (b.1997) is an emerging artist who completed her studies at the University of
Art and Design Cluj-Napoca. From the early years of her university education, Taisia has been dedicated to exploring and pushing the boundaries of various artistic mediums, leading her work to evolve into an interdisciplinary practice.
In her current artistic endeavors, Taisia Corbut focuses on the expressive qualities of line and form, utilizing the human figure as a means of conveying vulnerable and delicate emotions. By stripping away anecdotal details, she aims to create a visual language that captures the essence of intense singularity and personal introspection. Taisia’s works embody a simplicity of representation, serving as a powerful reminder of the importance of being present in our inner worlds. Through her works, she seeks to recreate a space of personal understanding and evoke a profound connection with our own emotions.
Anastasia Calinovici
Anastasia Calinovici (b. 1996) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Bucharest, Romania. Some of her most notable practices include graphic interventions, installation, object art, and AI-generated art. Although she employs elements of dark symbolism, occult references, and almost horror-like scenarios, her approach is aimed at finding a balance between light and darkness, human and non-human, presence and absence. By exploring these gray areas, she succeeds in creating distorted realities where all dualities are either joined or switched. Once the veil of opposing meaning is lifted, her art emerges, like an unearthly thing does, in all its beauty and dreadfulness.
Vlad Olariu
Specializing primarily in sculpture and installation, my artwork explores the concept of monumentality and heroism. It navigates between heroism and anti-heroism, monument and anti-monument, masterpiece and anti-masterpiece, questioning their political, historical, social, or personal significance. Throughout the history of sculpture, one of its defining characteristics was the celebration of permanence. From ancient times, sculpture has been deeply connected to funerary monuments and ancestor worship. Over time, it also came to honor prominent individuals, such as pharaohs, leaders, and kings, and more recently, the anonymous heroes (soldiers) of the World Wars. This commemorative purpose demanded durability and, ideally, longevity. As a result, materials like marble, stone, and bronze were favored for their perceived indestructibility. This brings me to my personal challenge: creating in an era where sculpture is no longer revered on its pedestal. The genuine enthusiasm and time once dedicated to crafting timeless monuments have diminished. The age of heroes, the symbolic figures that shaped history, seems to be fading. Consequently, my works often employ ignoble materials, such as modern construction prefabs, polyurethane, resin, EPS foam, bitumen, cement, cellular concrete, drywall, plywood, and more. Moreover, there is irony in the attempts to imitate historical materials like stone, marble, or metal to create the illusion of permanence.
Robert Lőrincz
Robert Lőrincz (b. 1995, Sfântu Gheorghe), an emerging artist of the moment, graduated from the University of Arts and Design Cluj-Napoca, under the guidance of Ioan Sbârciu (master’s courses 2017). Robert draws inspiration from his passions for music, cinematography, and literature. However, he also explores the power of visuals inspired by mythology and symbolism. His characters, strongly individualized through details such as clothing or physical traits, are captured in a state of profound reverie, creating a space that is rather unhistorical.
His first solo show in Bucharest took place with the exhibition “Eros/Thanatos” (2021) at the Combinatul Fondului Plastic, the exhibition space of Artsafe. In 2023, he had a solo exhibition at Casa Avramide, within the Tulcea Art Museum. Also in 2023, he participated at SCAF – the International Festival of Contemporary Art, Sibiu, a festival that gathered artists from 5 continents. Both in 2023 and 2024, he successfully participated in the Mobu International Art Fair, Bucharest. In 2024, he was part of two group exhibitions, both taking place at The Institute gallery, within the Plastic Fund Complex. The first exhibition, Figurativus Eklektikos, included only artists from the Sineva – Important Art portfolio and was curated by Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu and the next, Until Death Do Us Part, brought together over 20 important artists of the moment and had the same curator.
Regarding the artistic mediums he works in, Robert acknowledges that he is more uninhibited in drawing than in painting. “When I paint, I’m somehow more careful, more rigid, it’s like I’m not fully immersed in my element as I am when drawing. I like to use an analogy: when I paint, I feel like I’m walking on ice, like I’m trying to keep my balance on ice. But this confidence comes with experience. Anyway, painting and drawing intertwine, so they are not two separate domains, two entities without any connection between them.”
Lazăr Andrei
Architect and founder of Studio Morfonovel, proposes Cross-breeding design; as a research practice through which unexpected traits are merged to create a new breed of objects. While not bound by specific themes, some works lean toward anatomical expressiveness or human presence. His medium of expression is the tangible, everyday reality, where human experience is seen as a form of performative art. Disguising art under the veil of functionality becomes the ideal premise for seamlessly integrating the works into the scenography of everyday life.
Otilia Fiastru
Otilia Fiastru is a jeweler and designer. A graduate of the “Ion Mincu” National University of Architecture and Urbanism, she works as a designer and art director on both commercial and cultural projects, such as the National Dance Center Bucharest, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, and Romanian Jewelry Week. In 2013, she founded the contemporary jewelry brand Oval, where she is the designer and maker. Oval pieces have been awarded the MNAC Prize at the Autor Contemporary Jewellery Fair 2014 and The Special Accessory Design Award at IFS 2016 during London Fashion Week. Since 2022, she has been co-organizer of the cultural event Art and Design Market (Piața de Artă și Design). In November 2023, she held her first solo show Oval “The Way Out Is Through” at the Grotto gallery in Bucharest.
Dragoș Bădiță
Dragoș Bădiță (b. 1987) lives and works in Bucharest, Romania. He graduated from the University of Art and Design in Cluj and exhibited in Bucharest, Taipei, Cluj, London, Copenhagen, Athens, Ghent, Mallorca, Rome, Leipzig, Stockholm, Como and Berlin. He is working mostly in physical media such as oil or ink and recently experimenting with generative art and animation.
His work stems from glimpses of ordinary, lived moments, that are getting charged with existential and sometimes mystical themes and states of mind. The works reflect on the momentary nature of experience and how it connects with a broader understanding of reality, which brings to the forefront ideas regarding our relationship with nature, with the body, with other people, with the fluctuating nature of the self, the inevitability of decay and dissolution and the limits of understanding the inner worlds of others. His figurative paintings reflect on Flemish and Danish painterly influences, striking a contemporary contrast with his choice of framing and merge of motifs and fantastic landscapes.
Ileana Oancea
Ileana Oancea is a visual artist with 20 years of experience. She graduated from the University of Arts in Bucharest in 2001. She has teaching experience in two universities and holds a PhD in visual arts since 2006. She constantly exhibits both in galleries and in public spaces. She collaborates on various types of projects – art camps, group projects for galleries, monumental sculpture projects for public spaces, and experimental archaeology projects. Although I have been “playing” with volumes for many years, I still feel like I’m at the beginning of the journey; each composition is a new challenge, I search for new materials and forms of expression, I try not to impose limits on myself and to explore various artistic discourses. I am attracted to both the specific space of an art gallery and public spaces, thus oscillating between experts and non-experts. I enjoy expressing myself clearly, establishing direct communication with the viewers. Some themes already appear recurrently, such as wings and flight, dreams and reality, fairy tales… I like to combine materials, pay attention to details, and center my works around precious elements. I am drawn to new projects that challenge me, that force me to search within myself, that help me discover and uncover, to learn and to grow.
Cătălin Oancea
Cătălin Oancea was born in the city of Râmnicu-Vâlcea in 1980, but completed his higher education in Bucharest, where he graduated from the University of Arts, the sculpture department, and later obtained a master’s degree in Visual Arts in 2006. Wood, ceramics, iron, and bronze are traditional materials often found in his works, but he also works with new materials, such as various types of resins. For him, form is a tool with which he carves the space. He constantly tries diverse techniques, relationships between materials, contrasting textures, seeks shapes and structures in nature, and rare symmetries. An imaginary world of colorful forms contrasts with the grayness and monotony of the city, bringing a new kind of life, a new way of inhabiting, which parasitizes and revitalizes the sterile image of the omnipresent city. The forms derive from the biological microcosm, starting from resized microcellular structures. They are a gateway that transports you to another world, one of colors and irregular shapes, of play.
Andreea Ilie
Andreea Ilie (b. 2001) is currently studying Photography and Moving Image at the National University of Arts, Bucharest. Her artistic practice delves into the relationship between architecture and human psychology, particularly within the realms of postmodernism, brutalism and social housing. Utilizing photography, ceramics and metal as her primary mediums of expression, her work explores themes of collective experience and community. Her evocative imagery and sculptural interventions offer a glimpse into the complexities of societal structures, advocating for spaces that promote unity. Through her works, she addresses themes of fragmentation and isolation, encouraging reflection on the human experience. Her practice invites viewers to contemplate the power of collective action and the potential for social transformation.
Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu
Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu (b.1969, Bucharest) is a visual artist, curator and essayist from Romania who creates in various areas of fine arts: drawing, painting, photography, textile Object, contemporary embroidery, ceramics, installation etc.
She graduates from UNARTE (National University of Arts) Bucharest and Advanced Studies in Fine Arts at Sorbonne Arts Plastiques University, Paris. She lives and creates in Bucharest. Visual artist, chronicler, curator coordinates and manages ALERT studio Artist-run Space platform for research and promotion of contemporary artistic production.
Curates exhibitions in alternative, commercial and official spaces. Exhibits in Romania and abroad in museums, mainstream art galleries and all sorts of alternative spaces.
The art I practice is initmistic, (auto)biographical with fragments of (auto)fiction. I question the environment in which I live: intimate, urban social, I address the theme of gender and ethnic minorities, and I position myself in a feminist ideology. The approach to my subjects is immediate both in the area of artistic and curatorial activity.
Christian Roncea
Christian Roncea (b.1998) is a Romanian artist and curator living and working in Bucharest, Romania who graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK) in 2020. Christian Roncea constructs worlds reflecting the history of art while speculating on a dystopic future. The themes revolving around his work are part of an ever-growing research on trickster archetypes and their role in society. His interest in these subjects derives from a desire to demystify the perception on art and to disrupt outdated narratives through a multi-linear manner.
Andra Olaru
Andra Olaru is a Romanian designer who lives and works in Bucharest. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Andra Olaru is the founder of the ALMAZ brand, known for its unique approach to creating demi-couture pieces. Through ALMAZ, Andra Olaru explores diverse textures and materials, bringing an experimental spirit to each collection and successfully blending innovative techniques with surprising elements and details. Her creations are distinguished by a sophisticated aesthetic and impeccable finish, positioning the ALMAZ brand within the exclusive sphere of Romanian fashion.
Mircea Cuza
Mircea Cuza (b. 2001, Brașov, Romania – living in Bucharest) is a young visual artist interested in topics like identity and freedom. He appeals to memory and introspection as paths through which he analyzes the relationships between the present and the past, confusion and clarity, and life and death. His practice ranges from traditional techniques of painting and drawing to photography and object. In 2024, he graduated from the Painting Department of the National University of Arts in Bucharest.
Toma Ștefănescu
I am a visual artist and graphic designer from Bucharest, born in 2000. I graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, within the Photography and Dynamic Image Department. I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in visual communication at the same university. My work addresses digital overstimulation and the blurring of boundaries between the virtual and the real.
I frequently employ distortions and visual artifacts as means to express the affects of the current technological landscape. Additionally, I am interested in the possibilities that images offer for the analysis of online culture.
Alina Bobeică
Alina Bobeică (b. 2000, Găești, Romania – lives in Bucharest) She is an interdisciplinary visual artist who oscillates between
various techniques, from drawing and printing to object and photography. Through her practice, Alina Bobeică interrogates issues of personal identity, the relationship between man and nature combining visual ingredients in search of a sharp, bittersweet language. The creative impulse is triggered by the need to bring out personal experiences to the surface through metaphors against which to which the viewer can vent their own experiences. She graduated from the graphic arts department of the National University of Arts in Bucharest, bachelor and master.
Medeea Ene
Medeea Ene (b. 1996) lives and works in Bucharest, Romania. In 2019, he graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest. He is active in the clothing field and from 2020 he is launching his own namesake brand.
His creations explore a feminine but subversive discourse where design elements merge with artistic messages. The deconstruction of print, masculinity but also the universe of sensuality are included in his creations, presented to the public in two annual collections. In 2022, he receives the award for his debut at the Elle Style Awards for Best Young Designer.
Andrei Nuțu
Andrei Nuțu (b. 1996, Romania) is a visual artist based in Cluj and Bucharest, whose practice focuses on exploring figurative painting through various techniques, with particular attention to oil, charcoal, and more recently, fresco. His works are part of private collections in Romania, the UK, Greece, North Macedonia, Austria, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Hong Kong. Andrei graduated from the University of Arts and Design in Cluj-Napoca and spent one semester at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. His bachelor’s project, METANOIA, was exhibited in Cluj, Bucharest, and Athens. After completing his master’s studies with the project MARTIRIU, Andrei settled in Bucharest, where he continues to experiment with integrating fresco, a classical technique, into the context of contemporary art. Through his works, Andrei seeks to explore the relationship between tradition and innovation, between historical techniques and the visual language of the present, while maintaining a rigorou and introspective approach to the artistic process.
Emil Cristian Ghiță
Emil Cristian Ghiță graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, specializing in Sculpture. His artistic practices span various mediums, including sculpture/ object photography, installation. His artistic concerns are diverse, ranging from exploring the relationship between industrial and figurative aesthetics to post-humanism and trans-humanism currents, as well as archival research and documentation, and an interest in new technologies. In recent years, ecology and projects related to cultural and community development have played a significant role in his artistic activities.
Setup
Robert Marin
In 2001, he co-founded the design and architecture office Square One, where he worked as a principal architect, and in 2008, he co-founded the design and architecture office Nuca Studio, where he still works as a principal architect.
Several distinctions and participation in important events: 1st Prize for interior architecture of the BAB, Henkel Prize for Art, participation in the Nature Design exhibition for the Museum fur Gestaltung Zurich, works published in books and specialized magazines edited by Frame Publishers, Taschen, Lars Muller Publishers, Gestalten.
Curator
Marian Pălie
Marian Pălie (b. 1978) lives and works in Bucharest, Romania. Since his early years he has developed an interest in contemplative aesthetics, with subsequent studies supporting this inclination: philosophy, theology, cultural anthropology. He holds a BA in philosophy and theology with a thesis on “Post-anticipations of modernity”, an MA in fashion and costume strategies (2013) and a PhD (in progress) at the National University of Arts in Bucharest. Working in the interdisciplinary area, Marian Pălie connects several areas of interest such as photography, nonfigurative collage, applied and theorized meta-styling, video installations, curating, bibliophilic design. Themes such as reform, exploration of the body, contrast and cohabitation between the visible and the invisible, analysis of the supremacy of emotions, decomposition of the body in a post-human philosophy through photography are often found in his works and writings.