Opening: Friday 30 September, 7pm
 
The Presence of Objects is the first exhibition project to revisit inside Ivan Gallery a chapter from the beginning of Simona Runcan’s (1942-2007) artistic path. This exhibition lies in direct descent to the extensive retrospective dedicated to the artist between April-May at the Cultural Centre “Palatele Brâncovenești Mogoșoaia (curated by Patricia Bădulescu and Cristina Cojocaru), which designed and facilitated an integrated and coherent view on Simona Runcan’s practice, through an effort of recovering and re-putting into context her artistic presence, relevant in Romanian contemporary art’s recent history.

The Presence of Objects is the title of a series of works developed by Simona Runcan between 1969-1972, representative for the beginning of her experimental graphics’ endeavour, focused on unusual “still lifes”, renderings through drawing, aquatint and metal etching of some lifeless elements from the urban domain – various signals or street marks, parking meters, etc. – and more, with an approach that turns objects into almost abstract or descriptive motifs with formal features that generate stylised, geometric or pop-minimalist compositions. These works pay homage to her acknowledged option towards “using some neutral elements, ambiguous, which avoid a literary reading of the subject, but are arther fit for mystery, because through their mentioned unclarity the objects are taken out of immediacy, so they can receive a magical, mysterious presence.” (Simona Runcan)
 
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Simona Runcan (b. 1942, Bucharest – d. 2007 Bucharest) studied at the “Nicolae Grigorescu” Fine Arts Institute (today’s National University of Arts) in Bucharest, where she graduated in 1966 from the Graphics department and where she taught after 1989 inside the Fashion and Art Pedagogy departments. Her graphics, object, painting, installation works explore in a processual, serial and cyclic manner various themes and working means, from the ‘60s-‘80s experimental, figurative-conceptualist graphics to the post-‘90s neo-traditionalist painterly approach embraced by her. They have been shown in national and international solo and group shows, in contexts dedicated to Romanian art and especially engraving abroad, or in International Engraving Biennials in Cracow, Heidelberg and Verna, among others.
 
The exhibition has been made possible with the aid of Ioana Măgureanu. Special thanks: Patricia Bădulescu, Cristina Cojocaru, Ștefan Sava.

The exhibition can be visited until 05 November 2016, Wednesday to Saturday, 13-18, or by appointment outside the visiting hours.
 
photo credits: Ștefan Sava
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