Brutalism

Description

Brutalism – an exhibition by Radu Gușan [MD]
Saturday, February 17, 2024, 18:00 – opening
February 20, 21, 24 / March 2, 9, 2024, 17:00-20:00 – opening hours
Saturday, March 6, 2024, 18:00 – closing event
Zpace (The House of Zemstvo, 103 Al. Șciusev str., Chișinău)

We are pleased to invite you to the first exhibition of this year hosted by Zpace, in which the visual artist Radu Gușan participates with the project “Brutalism”: the work proposes a visual analysis of the way of life in Central and Eastern Europe after the transition from communism to democracy, explores the phenomenon of nostalgia for the Soviet era and aims to represent the aesthetic canons characteristic of the socialist period in dialogue with contemporary methods of producing works. The project explores the subject of identity and how it evolves, based on the cultural heritage of the socialist period, and also aims to restore the ideals of beauty characteristic of that period.

The exhibition includes a series of large-scale graphic works in screen-printing technique, a short video with sound and a three-dimensional installation as a support for the exhibition concept. In his works the author makes use of elements of architectural monuments from the Soviet period and treats them with visual means specific to the language of contemporary art – a visual reflection that explores the relationship between man and his environment, and how the aesthetic aspect evolves and adapts to their needs. His graphic works combine two working techniques: screen printing, which allows for the multiplication and creation of a series of printed works, and interventions in soft materials such as pressed charcoal and sandpaper. In these he introduces elements of plants such as sunflowers and corn, which he depicts in a simplified drawing technique, making reference to agricultural work and collective peasant households known in Soviet times as “kolkhoz”.

The exhibition raises the issue of cultural heritage and how we can integrate it into today’s political, economic and social realities. Thus, we invite you to reflect on the importance of this style of architecture through the works of Radu Gușan.

The exhibition will last until Saturday 9 March and will end with a discussion with the author.
Free admission.

Radu Gușan is a graduate of the College of Fine Arts in Chisinau and holds a master’s degree from the National University of Fine Arts in Bucharest. Gușan has participated in several group and solo exhibitions, some of which are “Europe in Colors” (2017), Chisinau International Print Biennial (2019-2021), “Monotrip” (2018), “Urban” (2019), “Monotrip II” (2019).

* Brutalism is an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s and was largely associated with the needs of the post-war period. Its defining characteristics include the massive use of concrete, simple geometric forms, structural expressiveness and the frank display of materials, as well as the construction processes themselves. Through Radu Gușan-s works, we invite you to reflect on the importance of this architectural style nowadays.