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Artist: Roman Tolici ( Romania, 1975 - present ) -
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Main Category: Painting
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Genres: Photorealism, Contemporary European Art, Symbolism
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Biography: How did Moldova use to be back in ‘80?
It used to be the Moldova of my childhood, so I can only have agreeable memories of it, with October stars, pioneer ties and trainings in view of an atomic war. It was the Socialist Republic of Moldova which took pride in the passage of Brejnev through Chisinau before going to Kremlin. IT was the Moldova taken by Gorbachev’s perestroika. It was the place where I started my apprenticeship in one of the few special arts boarding schools which existed in the USSR.
How did Romania look in ’90 coming from the USSR?
I found a Romania drained by the communist years and pierced by the Revolution bullets. At the same time, moving here was a romantic moment as I found back the true Mother Country. An environment which perfectly accompanied the specific torments of the high school and university years.
To what extent does the exhibition refer to a personal history?
I’ve regarded the personal history as a means at hand in order to present an overview of the collective history. Childhood and past in general is for most of us something bright and yet lost in the fogs of time. Paper, which is traditionally white, is now black – a perfect background for a mental reconstitution. If I should also mention the photos as a starting point for all drawings, things start to bind together, at least for me.
The one in which you rendered the Pieta Stradala in Mauro Rota’s collection! Where did it all start from?
Pieta Stradala next to Censured Jesus were the key works of the here-and-now project, where I tried to bring back to the forefront specific issues of the Christian culture and not only.
What about In Exitus?
In Exitus was my first well-knit project on a precise topic, which is almost a fetish – the topic of death.
This is my project, another “mise en scène” of what used to be in Cluj.
Yes, many of my works (and I believe some other people’s works) represent the moments of nightmare that I try to express graphically. The urban nightmare in particular, the one you refer to as a curator, is familiar to a larger or lesser extent to all those who accept to live in big cities.
It is there that the polyptych ”In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen” was sold – a key work of this latest series! Why the cross and why the game?
It’s the main incantation of Christianity, which gave rise to many theological arguments. Represented in this case as a game, by a child (a symbol of innocence) with the tongue (a communication, perception and … phallic symbol), it illustrates the generous idea according to which it does not matter how the cross sign is made as long as it is alive.
This was an ample project which brought together important names of Moldova and of the Bessarabian Diaspora ...
Yes… a sort of a cultural representation of the country with performances, concerts, exhibitions. I was honoured by the invitation of curator Stefan Rusu to participate next to artists like Mark Verlan, Pavel Brăila, Veaceslav Druţă or Planeta Moldova group.
About Oana…
Simeza Nostra and Drawings in the Horizon were only two of the three projects of Oana Tănase in which I took part. I found them very interesting, especially that they took place in the most representative halls of the Fine Artists’ Union – residues of the old system, regarded as in disagreement with the artists of the new generation.
Comics is an old story with you…
I found comics as the perfect combination of graphic, literary and dramaturgic language. It has been and will hopefully remain one of my hobbies, next to prose and poetry. My collaboration with “Art-hoc” review and Vladimir Bulat was for instance mainly focused on comics. Then, there were some appearances in some of the yearbooks and issues of “Stripburger” in Slovenia, “Nonzi” in Italy and finally “Hardcomics” in Romania, where I also edited the “Aaargh!!!” album.
It was our first professional encounter, as you see that experience of the 2000s...
It was a chaotic landscape, where groups of young artists were created only for an exhibition, in a begged space, just to fail afterwards, blaming (rightfully) the lack of a managerial system providing for the financial means. deINTERESE was the first group which organised an exhibition (“Spot”) with a sincere, declared goal of selling works in order to buy spots and set up a healthy contemporary art gallery. Which is now called Posibila.
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Exhibition History: Born on January the 30th 1974 in the Moldavian Republic. Graduated the National University of Fine Arts from Bucharest in 1998, the Graphics Department. He is UAP member from 1998; lives and works in Bucharest, Romania.
Personal exhibition:
2006, desene recente, Galeria Posibilă, Bucharest
2005, in exitus, H’ART Gallery , Bucharest
2004, aici-şi-acum, Galeria Posibila, Bucharest / Romania
2002, Fantasmagorica, deINTERESE gallery, Bucharest / Romania
2002, Aaargh!!!, Barnimer Alternative, Strasburg / Germany
Group exhibition:
2006, participare la ART Fair, Bologna, Italia / Galeria Posibila
2005, Clipe de coşmar, Galeria Ataş, Cluj / Galeria Posibila
2005, Works 5, Art Gallery, Bistrita, Transylvania
2004, Bienala de Tineret I, CIAC, Bucharest / Romania
2004, Generatii Contemporane, organised by Galeria Posibila at Sala Palatului (Festivalului Artelor)
2004, DONUMENTA, Regensburg, Germany
2004, Transfigurari. Punct si de la capat (curator: Ileana Pintilie), Banat Art Museum, Timisoara / Romania
2004, Young Colours, Etaj ¾ gallery, Bucharest / Romania
2004, Pictura Romaneasca, Gunter Veheugen Cabinet, Bruxelles
2004, Atterrisssage, the Romanian Cultural Centre, Paris / France
2004, Desene la Orizont, Orizont gallery (curator Oana Tanase), Bucharest / Romania
2003, Simeza nostra, Simeza gallery (curator Oana Tanase), Bucharest / Romania
2002, Strip burger – comical scenes from East and Middle Europe
- kArtonGallery, Budapesta
- Fanzinotheque, Poitiers
- Emmetrop Organization, Bourges
- Mains d’Ouvres Independent Cultural Center, St. Ouven, Paris
2002, BERD, Palatul Parlamentului, Bucharest / Romania
2002, Arte Divina, National Museum of Art, Bucharest / Romania
2001, Spot, deINTERESE gallery, Bucharest / Romania
2001, Hrana pentru trup si suflet, History Museum, Bucharest / Romania
2000, Bus si prietenii, Atelier 35 gallery, Bucharest / Romania
2000, 1 plus 1, the Literature Museum, Bucharest / Romania
2000, World Trade Plaza, Bucharest / Romania
2000, Young Artists exhibition – Accente si Amprente – the third edition, Apollo gallery, Bucharest / Romania
1999, Young Artists exhibition – Accente si Amprente – the second edition, Apollo gallery, Bucharest / Romania
1998, Exhibition of graduated students of the National Fine Arts University from1998, Palatul Parlamentului, Bucharest / Romania
1994, Book illustration for children exhibition, Goethe Institute, Bucharest / Romania
1994, Anniversary exhibition of the National University of Fine Arts, Etaj ¾ gallery, Bucharest / Romania
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Collections: Works in private collection from: Romania, France, Italy, Spain, Austria
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Bibliography: 2006 / ROMAN TOLICI - recent drawings / 28 pages / Ed. Galeria Posibila
2003 / INVENTAR [Romania's new generation of artists] 128 pages / Ed. Galeria Posibila & Contemporania Found
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