Ulise al lui Alexandru Rãdvan
Existã un timp al lui Ulise, în lecturile ºi
imaginarul nostru. Pentru unii, mulþi,
fereastra cãtre eroul lui Homer, zis ºi
Odiseu, se deschide ºi se închide în
copilãrie/adolescenþã. Pentru alþii, puþini,
Ulise devine un tovar㺠de drum pe
termen lung. Este vorba despre acei
oameni, creatori de text/imagine, pentru
care Odiseu se transformã în simbolul
Drumeþului cãutãtor al Cunoaºterii,
Învingãtorul prin forþa inteligenþei dar ºi
prin cea fizicã, dacã o cer circumstanþele...
Ulise împinge limitele dialogului cu lumea,
pe diversele ei paliere, luptã pentru a
garanta constanþa unor calitãþi umane.
James Joyce a demonstrat cã mitul rezistã
ºi în modernitate, cã Ulysses nu se
rãtãceºte nici în secolul XX, dimpotrivã.
Alexandru Rãdvan transformã unul din
reperele sale preferate de lecturã, de
întoarcere la Antichitate ºi la mit, într-un
adevãr pluriform al artei contemporane.
Lumea lui Ulise îl ademenea încã din anii
studenþiei. Ea a revenit în prim-planul
sensibilitãþii ºi atenþiei sale spre finalul
primului deceniu al noului mileniu.
Regãsirea acestui Erou se traduce si prin
(re)descoperirea reprezentãrii genuine a
atributelor masculinitãþii. Nuanþa
retractilitãþii ironic-parodice nu este decât
vag activatã în context. Confruntarea cu
adversitãþile, antrenamentul sportiv
dezvoltã un “discurs” care devine o
pledoarie pentru robusteþea corporalã a
atletului antic, iar prin extensie, a celui
dintotdeauna. Imaginea acestei
corporalitãþi triumfãtoare este esenþializatã
ºi, în fapt¸ sporitã de un calculat
“primitivism” al structurãrii formale.
Ulise apare în ipostaze ºi din unghiuri
diverse, identitatea facialã este variabilã.
Sunt însã destule cazuri când percepem o
siluetã vãzutã din spate, cel mult cu capul
întors în profil... Odiseu devine aºadar un
personaj generic, un reper uman tipologic.
Chiar ºi reprezentãrile frontal-faciale ating
un grad sporit de generalitate. Ceva
încãlzeºte, totuºi, aceste portrete
paradoxal depersonalizate: uneori un soi
de exaltare modularã a trãsãturilor, alteori
“cuibul” haºurilor colorate care definesc un
chip – aceste observaþii privesc mai ales
lucrãrile realizate în 2012 în pastel gras.
În contextul datelor stilistice de
ansamblu, în opinia noastrã, specificitãþile
de “vocabular” imagistic ale lui Alexandru
Rãdvan provin ºi din inspirata confluenþã a
unor “ecouri” diferite între ele. Acestea se
“topesc” într-un coerent ton
particularizant, fãrã ca elementele care îl
compun sã fie, fiecare, neapãrat, brand
new. În cazul universului tematic Ulise, cel
puþin în ce priveºte desenele în pastel, ne
gândim mai ales la ecouri ale
Transavanguardiei hrãnite ºi de exemple
greceºti ºi romane antice. Pictura propriu-
zisã confirmã dimensiunea
neoexpresionistã (cu posibile “ingerinþe”
italiene).
Pe de altã parte, “portretele” grupate în
seria transformabilã în instalaþie, de
monotipuri în tuº pe calc (“Oamenii lui
Ulise”, 2011), sunt la rândul lor
tulburãtoare: aceste chipuri, cu expresii
diverse, se înfãþiºeazã ca niºte “amprente”
ale unor diferite stãri ale umanului,
reprezentãri neoexpresioniste ºi ele,
configurate prin intermediul petelor de
culoare. Par, totodatã, glose pe tema
raportului între prezenþã ºi absenþã.
Sculpturile realizate cu ajutorul armãturii
metalice, pânzei ºi pigmenþilor, se afirmã
ca exemple accentuat neoexpresioniste
(unele), pornind de la deja identificata
tipologie a primitivismului, cãreia i se
adaugã date ale unei “arheologizante”
viziuni de tip body in pieces. Intervenþiile
picturale potenþeazã “spectacolul”
atitudinal. Reliefurile în lemn sau în ciment
depun ºi ele mãrturie pentru capacitatea
de sintezã formalã pe care o etaleazã în
de sintezã formalã pe care o etaleazã în
operã Alexandru Rãdvan, pentru
sensibilitatea artistului faþã de textura
materialului în care lucreazã ºi abilitatea
de a o pune în valoare.
Alexandru Rãdvan îmi mãrturisea cã
agreeazã din ce în ce mai mult lucrul în
volum ºi “lupta” cu materialul; faptul
plastic devine un fel de picturã/desen în
3D...
Fragmentele narative care se ataºeazã
“marii povestiri” dedicate lui Ulise, i se
reveleazã artistului ºi se transformã în
imagini în împrejurãri cel mai adesea
nespectaculoase. Inspiraþia se
declanºeazã, nu rareori, în mediul familial.
În definitiv, nu înseamnã Odiseea
“întoarcerea acasã” în orice limbã a
planetei?
Adrian Guþã
Alexandru Rãdvan Ulyssese
Olvasmányainkban és képzeletünkben
Ulyssesnek külön ideje van. Egyesek, elég
sok ember, a Homérosz Odüsszeusznak is
nevezett hõsét csak gyerek- és
kamaszkorukban ismerik: az elsõ
idõszakban találkoznak vele, a másodikban
elbúcsúznak tõle. Mások, kevesen, hosszú
lejáratú barátságot ápolnak vele. Azokról a
szöveg- vagy képalkotókról van szó, akik
számára Odüsszeusz a Megismerést keresõ
Vándor jelképévé válik, az intelligencia, de
ha a körülmények azt kívánják, a fizikai
erõ révén is Diadalmaskodóvá… Ulysses
tovább feszíti a világgal való párbeszéd
korlátait, a világ különbözõ “emeletein”
gyakorolja kíváncsiságát és értelmét, azért
küzd, hogy bizonyos emberi kvalitások
tartós mivoltát biztosítsa. James Joyce
bebizonyította, hogy a mítosz a
modernitásban is aktuális, hogy Ulysses a
XX. században sem téved el, éppen
ellenkezõleg.
Alexandru Rãdvan nem tesz mást, mint
hogy egyik kedvenc olvasmányát, mely
által visszatér az Ókorhoz és a mítoszhoz,
a kortárs mûvészet sokféle és számtalan
formájú igazságává változtatja. Ulysses
világa már diákéveitõl kezdve
foglalkoztatta, és az új évezred elsõ
évtizedének vége felé újra visszatért
érzékenysége és figyelme középpontjába.
Ennek a hõsnek az újrafelfedezését többek
között úgy fordítja mûvészetté, hogy
(újra)felfedezi a maszkulinitás
tulajdonságainak zsigeri ábrázolását. Az
ironikus-parodikus visszahúzódás
árnyalatát csak vázlatosan mûködteti. Az
ellenfelekkel és nehézségekkel való
küzdés, a sportos edzés olyan “diskurzust”
fejleszt ki, amely az ókori atléta, s
kiterjesztés révén a mindenkori atléta
dicséretévé válik. Ennek a diadalmaskodó
testiségnek a képét a lényegre egyszerûsíti
és “felgyarapítja” a formális struktúra
átgondolt “primitivizmusával”.
Ulysses különbözõ helyzetekben és
szögekbõl ábrázolódik, arca is változik.
Elég gyakori azonban, hogy hátulról látjuk,
legfeljebb profilból… Odüsszeusz tehát
általános, tipikus emberi személyiség lesz.
Még a szembõli ábrázolások is nagyfokú
általánosságot hordoznak. Valami
mégiscsak melegíti ezeket a paradox
módon elszemélytelenedett portrékat:
olykor a vonások eltúlzása, máskor a
színes satírozás “fészke”, amely
meghatároz egy arcot – ezek a
megfigyelések elsõsorban azokra a
mûvekre vonatkoznak, melyek 2012-ben
készültek darabos pasztellszínekkel
megfestve.
Ami most már az általában vett stilisztikai
adatokat illeti, véleményem szerint
Alexandru Rãdvan képi “szókincsének”
sajátosságai abból is származik, hogy
ihletetten egybedolgozott bizonyos
egymástól különbözõ “hatásokat”. Ezek
egy mindent partikulárissá tevõ tónusban
“olvadnak össze”, anélkül, hogy a
különbözõ összetevõk mindegyike
feltétlenül mai lenne.Az Ulysses tematikájú
univerzum esetében, legalábbis, ami a
pasztellrajzokat illeti, elsõsorban a
Transavanguardia hatására gondolok,
melyeket görög és római példák is
befolyásoltak. Maga a festés módja
expresszionizmust is hordoz (olasz
“fuvallatokkal”).
Másfelõl az installációra váltható
portrésorozat, a pauszpapírra rajzolt
monotípusok (Ulysses emberei, 2011) a
maguk során szintén felkavaróak: ezek a
változatos kifejezést hordozó arcok úgy
jelennek meg, mint különbözõ emberi
állapotok “ujjlenyomatai”, expresszionisták
ezek is, a színfoltok révén felvázoltak.
Ugyanakkor a jelenlét–hiány közötti
viszony margójára rajzolt etüdöknek
tûnnek.
A fém, vászon és festékanyag segítségével
megformált szobrok közül néhányan
hangsúlyozottam expresszionista
vonásokkal telítettek, s a primitivizmus
immár azonosított tipológiájából indulnak
ki, melyhez body in pieces-típusú
“régészeti” látásmód jegyei járulnak. A
festõi beavatkozások az attitûd-beli
“elõadást” teszik lehetõvé. A fából és
cementbõl készült dombormûvek szintén
arról a formális szintézisképességrõl
árulkodnak, amelyet Alexandru Rãdvan
mûve tanúsít, a mûvész érzékenységérõl
annak az anyagnak a textúráját illetõen,
amellyel dolgozik és arról a képességérõl,
amellyel mondani tud valamit általa.
Alexandru Rãdvan bevallotta nekem, hogy
egyre jobban szereti a nagy tömegû
anyagot s a vele való küzdelmet; a
plasztika egyfajta 3D-ben megalkotott
festménnyé-rajzzá válik…
Az Ulyssesnek szentelt “nagy
elbeszéléshez” tartozó narratív részletek
“megjelennek” a mûvész elõtt és
legtöbbször kevéssé látványos
körülmények között alakulnak át képekké.
Az ihlet nem is ritkán családi körben “indul
be”. Végsõ soron mit jelent az Odüsszeia a
világ bármely nyelvén, ha nem azt:
“hazatérés”?
Adrian Guþã
Fordította: Demény Péter
The Ulysses of Alexandru Rãdvan
Both in our readings and in our
imagination, Ulysses has different periods
of time. Some of us, most of the people
know the hero of Homer named Odysseus
in their childhood and in their adolescence:
they meet him in the first, the say
goodbye to him in the later. Others, only a
few, tend to keep a long-running
friendship with him. I am talking about the
text and image-creators for whom
Odysseus becomes the Wayfairer seeking
Cognition and a Triumphant through
intellect and – if it's required – through
physical strength... Ulysses keeps straining
the barriers of the dialogues with the
world, he practices his curiosity and
intellect on the different 'levels' of the
world, he fights to ensure the durability of
some human qualities. James Joyce
proved that myth is actual even in
modernity and that Ulysses doesn't get
lost in the 20th century, on the contrary.
Alexandru Rãdvan does nothing else but
turns his favourite reading – by which he
returns to the antiquity and myth – into
the many-sided and many-formed truth of
contemporary art. He was interested in the
world of Ulysses in his student years and
this returned to the center of his sensibility
and attention at the end of the first decade
of the new millenium.
He transforms the rediscovery of this hero
into art by (re)discovering of the visceral
depiction of masculinity. He operates the
shade of the ironical-parodical withdrawal
only schematically. Struggling with
opponents and other difficulties, this
athletic training develops a 'discourse' that
becomes the praise of the ancient – and
by extension – the universal athlete. He
simplifies the image of this triumphant
corporeality to its substance and he
'upgrades' this with the deliberate
'primitivism' of formal structure.
Ulysses is depicted in different situations
from different angles, his face changes
constantly. However, we frequently see
him from back or at most in a profile
view... and so Odysseus becomes a
general, typical human personality. Even
his frontwise depictions carry a great deal
of generality. Nevertheless, something
warms these paradoxically impersonified
portraits: sometimes the exaggeration of
features, sometimes the 'nest' of color
shading which determines a face – but
these observations can be related to the
works he made in 2012 using lumpy pastel
coloring.
Considering the general stylistical data, I
think that the nature of Alexandru
Rãdvan's pictorial 'vocabulary' derives
from the fact that he inspirationally
combined some completely different
'effects'. These effects are merged in a
tone that makes everything particular,
even if not all its components are modern.
In case of the Ulysses-universe,
concerning the pastel drawings, I am
thinking here to the effect of
Transavanguardia, which was influenced by
Greek and Roman examples, even the
mode of the painting carries the influence
of expressionism (with Italian
'impressions').
On the other hand, the portrait series that
can be viewed as an installation, the
mono-types drawn on tracing paper (The
men of Ulysses, 2011) are also disturbing
in their own way: these faces with diverse
expressions are depicted as 'fingerprints'
of different human conditions, these are
also expressionists outlined by colorspots.
They seem to be etudes drawn on the
margin of the relationship between
presence and absence.
Out of the sculptures created with the use
of metal, linen and paint, some are
saturated with emphasis with expressionist
features and they start from the already
identified typology of primitivism which is
associated with the features of this body in
pieces-like archaelogical view. The
interventions of the painter make the
attitudical 'presentation' possible. The
reliefs made of wood and cement also
reveal that formal capability for synthesis
that is testified by the whole artwork of
Alexandru Rãdvan, the sensibility of the
artist concerning the texture of the
material that he is working with, and the
ability of saying something by the use of
material.
Alexandru Rãdvan once admitted to me
that he likes the material of great mass
and the struggle with it more and more;
plasticism becomes a kind of a painting-
drawing created in 3D...
The narrative details dedicated to Ulysses
and belonging to 'the great narrative' just
happen to 'appear' in front of the artist
and they transform into images not under
very spectacular circumstances in most
cases. So many times, inspiration is
'turned on' in a family environment. After
all, what does Odyssey mean in any
language of the world, if not
'homecoming'?
Adrian Guþã
Translated by Elõd Márton
Alexandru RÃDVANthDate and place of birth: May16 1977, Bucharest, Romania
www.radvanpainting.blogspot.com
Education:
1996 – 2000 Bucharest University of Art
Solo shows:
2011 - “The Heart”, installation at Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg, curated by Didier Damiani
2011 - “Christ”, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest
2009 - “Wond'ring aloud”, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest
2008 - „Zeus & Europa”, Calina Gallery, Timiºoara
2008 - „Huldigung des Judas & der Kreuzfahrer ”(Hommage to Judas & The crusaders), LWL – Industriemuseum Westfaliches Landesmuseum fur Industriekultur Henrichshutte, Hattingen, Germany
2007 – “Memories of Constantine”, Anaid Art in collaboration with Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca
2007 – “Cancer”, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest
2007 – “Memories of Constantine”, Curtea Veche, Bucharest
2006 – “Sol Victus”, U.A.P. Gallery, Bistriþa
2006 – “Sol Victus”, Casa Matei Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2005 – International Action Art Center / UNESCO, Athens, Piraeus, Greece
2005 – “Soma”, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest
2005 – “Taurobolii”, Palatele Brancovenesti Culture Centre, Bucuresti
2003 – “Imperatores. Fragments”, H'Art Gallery/ UNA Gallery, Bucharest
2003 – “Drawings for Petronius”, Posibila Gallery, Bucharest
2001 – “Heroes”, UNAgaleria, Bucharest
2001 – “12 images told by Alexandru Radvan”, ArtJazz Club, Bucharest
2000 – “Anatomy of the landscape”, 35 Atelier, Bucharest
Lista lucrarilor / List of the artworks
Seria Atletice I., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series I., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice II., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series II., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice IV., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series IV., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice V., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series V., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VI., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VI., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VII., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VII., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VIII., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VIII., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice IX., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series IX., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice III., pastel gras pe hârtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series III., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012
Oamenii lui Ulise I., monotipie (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses I., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise III., monotipie (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses III., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise IV., monotipie (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses IV., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise V., monotipie (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses V., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Alexandru Rãdvan - Oamenii lui Ulise, instalatie 45 de monotipii (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011Alexandru Rãdvan - People of Ulysses, installation of 45 monotips (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise VI., monotipie (tuº pe hârtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011 People of Ulysses VI., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Peºtera lui Polifem, acrilic pe pânzã nepreparatã, 277x154cm, 2012Cave of Polyphemus, acrylic on unprepared canvas 277x154cm, 2012Ulise ºi Sirenele, tehnica mixtã: armaturã metalicã; pânzã ºi pigmenþi, 2011Ulysses and the Sirens, mixed technique: metal armatures, canvas and pigments, 2011Troia, tehnica mixtã: armaturã metalicã; pânzã ºi pigmenþi, 2009-2011Troy, mixed technique: metal armatures, canvas and pigments, 2009-2011Fãrã titlu, lemn de brad pictat cu culori vinilice, 2011Untitled, pine wood painted with vinyl color, 2011