Art
Henri Maillardet presents Francisc Chiuariu at Zurich Art International
At Art International Henri Maillardet presents the artworks of Francisc Chiuariu.
Francisc Chiuariu (born 1966, Sibiu, RO) is one of the most significant contemporary Romanian painters who emerged after the fall of the Communist regime. A prolific artist and gifted former professor at the Bucharest Art University in his mid-20s, over the last 30 years he focused exclusively on painting. Chiuariu is an avid and fearless explorer of diverse forms of visual expression who has developed a unique creative identity, distinctive in its mixture of traditional media and unconventional materials, techniques or surfaces.
Spanning three decades, Chiuariu’s artistic practice produced a multi-layered combination of photorealism and neo-expressionism, with his recent series Vortex moving firmly into ample abstract territories, at times reminding of Richter. He works in oil and acrylic with typographic ink, on canvas or translucent polymer sheets, with light-boxes and occasionally video as well. His recurrent themes involve the dissolving human presence in urban landscapes, the fleeting visual apparition of the powerful underlying network geometry which sustains our emotional interaction with follow humans, history and the spiritual divine.
As work in progress, the Vortex series has resulted in several outstanding largescale canvases, examining famous urban squares resonant with personal and historic(al) memory.
Following important local and international exhibitions, his works were included in the MNAC
Romanian Contemporary Art Museum as well as in private collections in Romania, France, Russia,
Switzerland, Israel, Canada, Austria, United States and South Africa. He lives and works in Bucharest, Romania.
FRANCISC CHIUARIU Morning Glory (Times Square, the Vortex Series) 2017 – 2018 Oil on canvas, 155 x 206 cm
Signed in black ink on the back, on the top/right side, stamped with the Francisc Chiuariu Foundation Stamp
Explosive light and deep trepidation dominate the viewer’s first visual contact with this work – made all the more poignant as the artist has never actually seen the square: he associates it with one of his own personal motifs – the abolition of sleep, as a form of both freedom and anguish inherent to our human condition. The optimism of the yellow morning glory flower referenced in the title is an exhilarating promise of life triumphant over the dark, steep geometries of our cities and our personal inner worlds.
FRANCISC CHIUARIU Pray for Tomorrow (San Marco, the Vortex Series) 2017 – 2018 oil on canvas, 135 x 200 cm
Signed in black ink on the back, on the top/right side, stamped with the Francisc Chiuariu Foundation Stamp
A favourite place of the artist, the San Marco square holds solid ground on the brink of the fluid and uncertain waters surrounding the city. The recent aqua alta which has overwhelmed Venice intensifies the experience of this extraordinary painting. The symbols of hegemony – political, commercial and cultural – emerge from the many-layered paint which resembles the ebb and tide, in an unsettling understanding of life/history’s relentless flow of both limpid and dark meaning.
Where is it?
Puls 5 – Foundry hall, Giessereistrasse 18
Tram 4, stop Technopark / parking Puls 5, P-West
Dates:1-4 October 2020
Opening hours
- Opening Thursday 1 October, 18:00 – 21:00
- Friday 2 October, 10:00 – 20:00
- Saturday 3 October, 10:00 – 20:00
- Sunday 4 October, 10:00 – 18:00
Admission fees
- Day ticket Friday, Saturday, Sunday: CHF 20 / students CHF 10
- Admission on Thursday: CHF 30
- Free admission with invitation card
- Advance booking at all Ticketcorner sales points and on www.ticketcorner.com
