Download file - Galerija Gregor Podnar.

ION GRIGORESCU
PORTFOLIO
Lindenstr. 35 | 10969 Berlin | Germany | tel. +49 30 259 346 51 | fax +49 30 259 346 52 | berlin@gregorpodnar.com | ww.gregorpodnar.com

Ion Grigorescu is one of the most significant Rumanian artists of the Post-War period. Since 1967,
he has been working on issues of sexuality, body and politics from both a communistic and
capitalist point of view, based on historical changes. By the end of the '70s Grigorescu began
recording his performances, which concentrated on ritualized actions around his body. His
performances go beyond art and lead into a private and personal life. His most recent works are
avowals of daily life and show photos of his family and intimate moments, reflected his growing
interest in spirituality, as inspired by orthodox religious tradition in Romania.

FILMS

Walk
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 3' 33'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1974

Trap, Trap of Horseshoes
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 2ʼ 17ʼʼ, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1975

Ziua Martei
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 7' 17'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1976

Male and Female
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 12' 50'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1976

Beloved Bucharest
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 14' 37'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1977

Town and Earthquake
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, (edited 2010), duration: 9ʼ 38ʼʼ, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1977

In Dialogue with Ceauşescu the artist plays two opposing roles, in one of which he is wearing a mask with the face
of Ceauşescu.
Dialogue with Ceauşescu
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 6'44'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1978

Man at the Center of the Universe
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 5' 58'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1978

Balta Alba
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 7' 55'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1979

URSS
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, duration: 2' 13'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1981

Study for Oedipus
Super 8 film transferred into 16 mm film and digital format, (edited 2010), duration: 12ʼ 15ʼʼ, ed. of 5 + 2 AP,
1982-85

Oedipus
Digital video, duration: 8ʼ45ʼʼ, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1994

Scaffolding
Digital video, duration: 14' 11'', ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 2010

Start
Digital video, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 2010

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS
& PRINTS

Cheese
Silver print, 29,8 x 39,8 cm, 1975

Horses
Color print, 24 x 29,8 cm, 1978

Mariuca Iosifescu II
Vintage silver print, collage on plywood, 45 x 45 cm (unframed size), framed, 1973

Self Portrait
Silver print, 29,3 x 40 cm, unique, 1974

Jump From the Tree
Silver print, 60 x 50 cm, framed, unique, 1978

Trăisteni, detail (the Serf)
Silver print produced in 2011, 60 x 40 cm (unframed size) framed, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1976

Jassy
Three silver prints, 29,8 x 40 cm each, unique, 1974

Jassy
Silver print, 27 x 40 cm, unique, 1974

Meeting Electoral (1)
Silver print on plywood, 30 x 40 cm, unique, 1975

Grimaces
Silver prints, 39,8 x 30 cm and 40,5 x 30,3 cm, unique 1975

Grimaces
Six silver prints produced in 2011, 40 x 30 cm each, ed of 5 +2AP, 1975

Webmachine
Color print, 30 x 39,5 cm, unique, 1978

Marica on the Sofa
Vintage silver print, series of 4, 40 x 30 cm each, 1975

Boxyoga or Homage to Eadweard Muybridge (1) and (2)
Digital prints produced in 2011, 10 x 31,5 cm each (unframed size), ed. of 5 +2 AP, 1980

Washing the face
Digital print produced in 2011, 75 x 72,5 cm, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 1976

At Home
Digital print produced in 2011, 40 x 30 cm, ed. of 5 +2 AP, 1974

LITHOGRAPHS

Fight Position
Lithography, 50,2 x 35,4 cm (unframed size), Ed. of 10, 1980

Oldsmobile 1967
Lithography, 53 x 73 cm (unframed size), Only available print, signed, titled, dated and numbered 2/10, 1971

Untitled (couple in field)
Lithography, 55 x 70 cm (unframed size), only available print (numbered "8"), 1974

Election
Lithography, 50 x 70 cm (unframed size), titled "Var III" and numbered 4/10, 1969

Pole
Digital print on paper, wood , 75 x 110 cm, ed. of 5 + 2 AP, 2010

SCULPTURES

Dogs in Heat
Metal sheet, 95 x 105 x 10 cm, 1991

Portrait of Kati Kiss
Painted metal sheet, 37 x 30 x 30 cm

Jug
Ceramic, 20 x 16 x 16 cm

Two views of the sculpture
The Man with two faces
Painted metal sheet, 30 x 20 x 30 cm

The Transparent Men
Wire net, 170 x 70 x 40 cm

PAINTINGS

Mariuca Iosifescu
Wire net, painted canvas (relief), 125 x 90 x 20 cm, 1974

Balance (Equilibre)
Acrylic on canvas, 85 x 61 cm, 1980
Sleeping Young Man
Acrylic on canvas, 26 x 40 cm, 1964
Buddha upside down
Acrylic on canvas, 62 x 49 cm, 1980

Portrait of Marika
Acrylic on canvas, 62 x 47 cm each, 1976
Two Women
Painted color print, cardboard, 110 x 60 cm, 1969

ION GRIGORESCU
Born 1945 in Bucharest, Romania
Lives and works in Bucharest
Solo exhibitions
2011
Performing History, Romanian Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy; curated by Maria Rus Bojan and Ami
Barak (with Anetta Mona Chişa & Lucia Tkáčová)
The Diplomatic Tent, MNAC Bucharest, Salonul de proiecte; curated by Magda Radu and Alexandra Croitoru (with
Anetta Mona Chişa & Lucia Tkáčová)
Horse / Men Market, Sammlung Friedrichshof, Zurndorg (near Vienna), Austria
National Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Back to Back, Andreiana Mihail gallery, Bucharest, Romania (with Ciprian Muresan)
Rome, artist's studio, Bucharest, Romania (with Bogdan Vladuta)
2010
Oedipus The Wanderer, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany
2009
Ion Grigorescu: In the Body of the Victim 1969–2008 Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland; curated by Kathrin
Rhomberg
Ludlow 38, European Kunsthalle Köln, Goethe Institute New York, USA (with Lili Dujourie)
The Self Punishing One, Mogosoaia Palace, Romania, traveling to Museums of Timisoara, Romania, Cluj,
Romania and Neuklosterburg, Austria (with Stefan Bertalan and Florin Mitroi)
The Poor People are Fending for Themselves, Angels Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2008
JGM Galerie, Paris, France; curated by Ami Barak
Le temps a modifié les lieux, Galerie Aux Enseignes des Oudin, Paris, France
Galleria Artra, Milano, Italy
2007
Resources National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania (with Geta Bratescu)
2006
Am Boden, Kunstverein Salzburg, Austria
Toys, Protokol gallery, Cluj, Romania (with Mircea Cantor)
2004
Recent Fotos, Caleria Noua, Bucharest, Romania
1998
National Museum of Art, Kretzulescu hall, Bucharest, Romania
1997
Venice Biennial, curated by Coriolan Babeti
1994
First gallery, Timisoara, Romania
1993
Mahlzeit für eine tote Kunst, Schauplatz för Zeitgenossische Kunst, Vienna, Austria
Animalita, Societa, Divinita, Istituto Romeno di Venezia, Italy
1992
Art, Politic and Religion Facing Crime, Catacomba gallery, Bucharest, Romania
1991
Anatomy of Exhibition, Submission, Opposition, Caminul artei, Bucharest, Romania

1982
Caminul artei, Bucharest, Romania
1980
Caminul artei, Bucharest, Romania
1976
Tribuna gallery, Cluj, Romania
1975
Banat Museum, Reschitza Museum, Romania
1974
Apollo gallery, Bucharest, Romania (with Ion Condiescu)
1972
Orizont gallery, Bucharest, Romania
1969
Ateneul tineretului, Bucharest, Romania (with Manuel Zeltzer)
Group exhibitions
2012
PHotoEspaña, XV edition of International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, Madrid, Spain
2011
A Complicated Relation, part I, Kalmar Konstmuseum, Sweden
East of Eden - Photorealism: Versions of Reality, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Ostalgia, New Museum, New York, USA
Stücke des Widerstands, Motorenhalle, Leipzig, Germany
The International, MACBA, Museum of contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain
Out of Place, Tate Modern, London, UK. Traveling to Darat al Funun - The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman,
Jordan
2010
After The Fall, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY, USA
6. Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany. Curated by Kathrin Rhomberg
Bucharest Biennial 4, Romania
The Realism Question - Epilogue to Bucharest Biennale 4, Romanian Cultural Institute, Stokholm, Sweden
The Promises of the Past, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. Curated by Christine Macel and Joanna Mytkowska
Changing Channels, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria
2009
Gender Check - Rollenbilder in der Kunst Osteuropas, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria
Subversive Praktiken Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Performing the East, Kunstverein Salzburg, Austria
Dada East? Romanian Contexts of Dadaism, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing, France
2008
Between the Images IASPIS, Stockholm, Sweden
Dada East? Romanian Contexts of Dadaism, Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2007
Documenta XII, Kassel, Germany
Social Cooking Romania, NGBK Berlin, Germany
Dada East? The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden
Prague Biennale 3, Czech Republic
Art of the Possible, Lunds Konsthall, Sweden
2006

Fremd bin ich eingezogen, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
October Salon 2006, Belgrad, Serbia
Dada East? Cabaret Voltaire, Dadahaus, Zürich, Switzerland
East Art Map: IRWIN / NSK Basekamp, Philadelphia, USA
Grey Zones Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany
Grey Zones, Brno House of Art, Czech Republic
Kontakt, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria
Trans:it - NowHere Europe National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
2005
9. Baltic Triennial / BMW Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
Paradoxes: The Embodied City, Calouste Gulbenkian Cultural Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
On Difference #1 Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
2004
The First Balkan Biennial, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Romanian artists (and not only) love the Palace?, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
5. Cetinje Biennale - Love it or Leave it, Biennial, Montenegro
Revolutions Reloaded, Galleria Artra, Milan, Italy
Trans:it. Moving Culture Through Europe Adriano Olivetti Foundation, Rome, Italy
Arteast 2000+, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2003
In den Schluchten des Balkans, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Periferic 6 Biennale Periferic, Iasi, Romania
2002
In Search of Balkania, Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria
2001
Double Life, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria
2000
Collection 2000+, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1998
Out of Actions, Between Performance and the Object, 1949-1979, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles,
USA. Touring exhibition: MUMOK, Vienna Austria, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain and MOMAT, Tokyo, Japan
1997
Romanian Pavilion, 47th Venice Biennial, Italy
1991
Wanderlieder, A Journey through the New Europe, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1990
Points East, Third Eye Gallery, Glasgow, UK
1981
XVI Biennial de Sao Paolo, Brazil
Public collections (selection)
MoMA, New York, USA
Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucarest, Rumania
Muzeul de Arta Timisoara, Timisoara, Rumania

THE RUIN AS METAPHOR [FRAGMENT]
By Magda Radu
More than a decade later, Ion Grigorescu would continue to investigate the devastated landscape of Bucharest. While filming his
video The Crooked Axes of the Civic Center (1994-2000), the artist stated he was feeling “outraged by the mess of the building
sites, the destruction of the old quarters and of historical monuments” . This journey down the West-East axis of Bucharest
prompts “a continuous inner dialogue between mind and memory” . Twenty years after Beloved Bucharest, the city was plunged
into a state of complete chaos, thus marking “two defeats, two retreats, towards the ruin, itʼs a kind of archeological aesthetic
satisfaction, like arte povera” . Some buildings, like the Library, the Academy or the Radio House are “a bit scary and morose in
their unexpected ruin” ; they have become ruins before completion, “premature” ruins, unfinished projects which reiterate
through their degraded state a condition of perpetual destruction. The demolished sites had still managed to impart an
impression of “savage poetry”, but the ensuing reconstructions were doomed to complete failure, without conveying the slightest
hint of the picturesque. One can sense here a certain ambiguity which is inherent in the experience of ruins, for even if they are
the result of violent destruction they may still hold the power to exert an uncanny attraction: “The ambiguity becomes a fertile
ground of metaphor, so that bodies, ideas, works of art can be framed as ruins just as buildings can.” Within the European
tradition ruins carry multiple connotations: they give visible shape to the passing of time and engender a state of melancholy
and nostalgia, while nevertheless containing an element of charm, as they “embody the dialectic of nature and artifice”, of
matter and spirit; this interaction finally reveals, as Georg Simmel put it, that “human creation is ultimately considered a product
of nature” . Ruins are physical traces of the past in the present and thus they signify the transitory condition of human existence.
Their perishable condition acts as a stimulus to resuscitate the past, and this drive provokes a historical meditation coupled at
times with the reactivation of personal memory. Ruins are “traces of loss”, but they carry the promise of understanding the past.
Ion Grigorescu has committed himself to a reflection on the history of places, of events, interwoven with glimpses of his own
past, and this is made evident when one reads certain excerpts from his texts. His view of the local history is essentially
pessimistic: history for him is made up of repetition of unfortunate events, of tragic deaths. Exemplary in this sense is his work
The Murder of Seneschal Cantacuzino, an agonizing figure made of plaster and covered in rags, which acquires a wider
resonance by bringing to mind the Christian theme of sacrifice and martyrdom. Such displacements, sometimes confusing and
difficult to integrate into a coherent whole, are often encountered in Ion Grigorescuʼs multifaceted activity.
Ion Grigorescuʼs art-making evinces a profound affinity with the ruin; his works are endowed with a ruin-like quality, in the sense
that their precarious materiality and the concept they embody are closely intertwined. Even the process of recording on video
camera the devastated, “after the war”-like area of the Civic Center is conducted in an improvisational manner, matching the
ravaged appearance of that site: “[…] it might be something to put on film ruins, with a camera held under my arm, swinging
monotonously, like a broken wagon, flaying the viewerʼs wish to watch calmly a detailed description of the features of the place.”
In the same way, the mere presence of a small-scale ruin made of clay, a fragile edifice which seems to be on the verge of
crumbling down at any moment, evokes (together with the accompanying text) a dramatic history of violence and destruction
that marked the fate of royal palaces and courts in Bucharest. The paucity of means and materials, as well as the modest,
humble appearance of objects can be effective solutions for conveying powerful messages; another representative work is a
miniature house made of clay entitled simply House, which, by being displayed in the House of People (where the National
Museum of Contemporary Art is located), reinforces the memory of destroyed buildings and counters the disproportionate scale
of Ceausescuʼs opus magnum. The house may also convey a not yet extinct hope in the possibility of inhabiting the world and of
edifying a “self” amidst unpropitious circumstances. For Ion Grigorescu the ruin, both in its meaning and outward appearance
(his works can take the shape of fragments on the point of disintegration, inconspicuous interventions and leftovers from the
everyday environment or recovered detritus from demolished houses) is in keeping with his stance as an artist: “I am against the
imposition of a style, which is why I have never been a complete painter. I donʼt like to see my works in the studio, so I would not
feel indebted to them.” Whenever he stumbles upon natural formations like molehills or nests, he photographs and collects
them, because they act for him as compelling evidence of a broader dialectic of disappearance and reappearance which is
active in the world, indeed at the very heart of it. Ion Grigorescuʼs artistic practice is marked by an inner contradiction, for
although his art is often built on negation, he nevertheless seeks to achieve a unification of art and life, thus expressing a
commitment to this tenet, that has been so central for the avant-garde. The impulse to free art from its limitations was also
inspired by the example of Joseph Beuys, who saw himself as simultaneously artist and non-artist, and for whom “everything
was art, and every aspect of life could be approached creatively, with a sense of inventiveness and ritual” . Indicative of this
influence are numerous photographs that depict Ion Grigorescu being involved in everyday activities, which are invested by him
with a ritualistic dimension: “For me, all daily tasks, like washing clothes, preparing a meal, shopping, or working in construction
are performances, art, acts of survival” .
But in his case the expansion of art is a solitary exercise, unable to contaminate the surrounding world. The continuous self-

questioning, to which the numerous notebook entries testify, led him to conclude on more than one occasion that art is a futile
endeavor, both because it has a limited reach and because it can no longer be integrated into a totalizing project. He speaks of
“giving up on the projects” and even comes up with the disheartening remark that “maybe art is among the most useless
activities”. Although his body art actions are generally regarded as one of the most consistent part of his activity, he considers
them retrospectively as “short-lived, meaningless projects, with no future, with no interconnection, which died as soon as they
appeared, as experiences” . The artist thus voices a distrust regarding the means and mission of art, a distrust which acts at the
core of his conception about art, threatening to annihilate its forms of manifestation. As Peter Bürger once stated, in a context in
which he was attempting to identify modalities of return of the avant-garde in contemporary art, “When the work is put into
question today, it is no longer carried by the pathos of revolutionizing the everyday life, but rather by the pathos of
disappearance” . Indeed, the “pathos of disappearance” seems to characterize Ion Grigorescuʼs art and persona only too well.
More recently, the observation and recording of the tensions within the public sphere can no longer satisfy the artistʼs impulse of
analyzing the local context and its complex articulations. His acute awareness has shifted towards a retrospective impulse, and
currently one of his main concerns is that of locating a historical perspective from which the past and the present could be better
understood. He often meditates on Romaniaʼs new situation on its difficult path of transition in which, as Zizek put it, the exsocialist
countries “never had the chance to choose […] they were presented with a new set of given choices (pure liberalism,
nationalist conservatism)” . It seems that, for Ion Grigorescu, recording the real may no longer be a suitable strategy for
grasping its underpinnings: “I refrain from taking pictures of people in distress. Such reporting campaigns are always supreme
artistic failures. Man cannot be treated at the speed of the pictures taken”.
Ion Grigorescu, “Vitan Ceausescu. The Crooked Axes of the Civic Center”, MNAC, opening catalogue, Bucharest, 2004, p. 177
I borrow this expression from Thomas Crowʼs essay “Cosmic Exile: Prophetic Turns in the Life and Art of Robert Smithson”, in Robert
Smithson, catalogue of exhibition, Eugenie Tsai (Ed.), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2005, p. 35
Ion Grigorescu, “A Version of Memory (January 2007)”, translated into English by Alex Moldovan, IDEA arts + society, # 25, Cluj, 2006,
p. 43
Ion Grigorescu, “Vitan Ceausescu…”, op. cit., p. 117
Michael Roth, “Irresistible Decay: Ruins Reclaimed”, in Michael Roth and Claire Lyons (Eds.), Irresistible Decay: Ruins Reclaimed, The
Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1997, p. 2
Georg Simmel, Cultura filozofica. Despre aventura, sexe si criza modernului, traducere de Nicolae Stoian si Magdalena Popescu-Marin,
Humanitas, Bucuresti, 1997, p. 123
Ion Grigorescu, “Vitan Ceausescu…”, op. cit., p. 117
Ion Grigorescu, “A Version of Memory (January 2007)”, ed.cit., p. 40
Michael Brenson, apud. Arthur Danto, “Foreword: Style and Salvation in the Art of Joseph Beuys”, in Claudia Mesch and Viola Michely
(Eds.), Joseph Beuys: the reader, the MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2007, p. xiv
Ion Grigorescu, “A Version of Memory (January 2007)”, ed.cit., p. 40
Ibid., p.39
Peter Bürger, “In the Shadow of Joseph Beuys”, in Claudia Mesch and Viola Michely (Eds.), Joseph Beuys: the reader, the MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2007, p. 261
Slavoj Žižek, “Can Lenin Tell Us about Freedom Today?” in East Art Map. Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe, ed.cit., p. 493
Ion Grigorescu, “A Child of Socialism”, Plural, no. 2, 1999, p. 78