In Beloved Bucharest at Ivan Gallery

Artists: Geta Brătescu, Florina Coulin, Alice Gancevici & Remus Pușcariu, Ion Grigorescu, Mircea Nicolae, Ștefan Sava, Mona Vătămanu, Florin Tudor

Exhibition title: In Beloved Bucharest

Venue: Ivan Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

Date: October 27 – November 30, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Ivan Gallery is delighted to invite you on Wednesday, October 27, between 6-9 pm, to visit the group exhibition “In Beloved Bucharest”, bringing together works by the artists Geta Brătescu, Florina Coulin, Alice Gancevici & Remus Pușcariu, Ion Grigorescu, Mircea Nicolae, Ștefan Sava, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor.

“In Beloved Bucharest” is the tile of a film on 8mm shot by Ion Grigorescu in the summer of 1977, on a stroll along the tram line 26. The route followed by the artist captures the changing landscape of the city, from the outskirts turned into neighbourhoods of blocks of flats, industrial areas, towards the modern city center. Populated by workers, cars, and Communist slogans, the Bucharest recorded by Ion Grigorescu resembles an objective view, a sought-after documentary likeness, confronted to the idealising tone of the eponymous song from the ‘50s, whose glorifying lyrics are inserted in the end of the film.

If Ion Grigorescu’s film takes place after the great 1977 earthquake, which forever changed Bucharest’s urban and architectural landscape, clearing the way for the demolishing and restructuring of the city during the Ceaușescu era, the exhibition “In Beloved Bucharest” takes shape in the context of the present pandemic crisis, whose long term consequences on the infrastructure and urban life are still to be experienced, and analysed. The exhibition brings together different views and stances on the experience of the Communist era of the city by Romanian artists representative for the second part of the 20th century, like Geta Brătescu, Florina Coulin and Ion Grigorescu, alongside contemporary critical perspectives of new works created on this occasion by Alice Gancevici & Remus Pușcariu, Ștefan Sava, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor. All the selected artists are either born, have studied, or live / have lived in Bucharest, their artistic practice taking more than once as a starting point images and facts from the city’s urban landscape and history. At the suggestion of Ștefan Sava was introduced in the exhibition a work by the regretted artist, curator and art critic Mircea Nicolae (Ionuț Cioană, 1980-2020), courtesy of the family of the late artist.

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Ion Grigorescu, Fără tiltu (Podul Grant) (Untitled (Grant Bridge)), 1973, lithograph on paper 46 x 65 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Mircea Nicolae, Pretext pentru un Morandi (Pretext for a Morandi), painting in acrylic on wood 35 x 60 x 1 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Florina Coulin, La marginea orașului (At the Outskirts of the City) 1976, acquaforte on paper, 63 x 81 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Ștefan Sava, A Basket of Wrapped Handshakes, 2021, old mining sieve, clay, wax, sheet metal, 55 x 45 x 15 cm

Ștefan Sava, Collapsing Act I, 2021, wax, wood (old loom), old metal stands, sheet metal, 60 x 130 x 50 cm

Ștefan Sava, Collapsing Act II, 2021, old object (hatter’s stand), wax, wood, woven fabric (old loom), acrylic, 50 x 50 x 60 cm

Ștefan Sava, The Catcher, the Catch, 2021, metal wheel (old pulley), wax, ancient Egyptian sculpture (authentic or copy), 23 x 30 x 35 cm

Ștefan Sava, Untitled, 2021, plaster, strips of sheet metal, 19 x 40 x 30 cm

Ștefan Sava, Collapsing Act III – A Three-faced Interrupted, Column, 2021, old plinth from India, clay, old metal disk, 45 x 40 x 45 cm

Ștefan Sava, Landscape for Two. One Step Outside the Triangle, 2021, found stainless-steel triangle, clay, acrylic, resin, 37 x 70 x 4 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Geta Brătescu, Experiențe litografice (Lithographic Experiments), 1973, lithograph on paper, 61.5 x 44 cm

Geta Brătescu, Experiențe litografice (Lithographic Experiments), 1973, lithograph on paper 61 x 43.2 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Întinderea timpului (The Spread of Time), 2020, textile material, 140 x 63 cm

Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Văcărești, 2006, film, colour, sound, 22: 26 min

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Sac înghițit de propriul conținut (Bag swallowed by its own content), 2021, mixed media sculpture (wooden board, plastic, cement), 70 x 100 x 70 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Florina Coulin, Bloc vechi (Old Block of Flats), 1975, lithograph on paper, artist proof 91.5 x 59.5 cm

In Beloved Bucharest, 2021, exhibition view, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

Alice Gancevici & Remus Pușcariu, As opportunity affords… / Bucharest Aged Oak, 2021, mixed media installation: extraction system (bucket, water, alcohol, pumps, fans, A.C. unit, magnetic stirrer hot plate, wires, tubes, laboratory glassware, circuitry), wood, aluminium, 3D prints, paint, stool legs, tincture, 220 x 350 x 170 cm