Commissioned by European ArtEast Foundation, Painterly Affinitiesis the first UK exhibition dedicated to exploring the dialogue and personal connection between two Romanian painters, associated to the phenomenon of Cluj School of Painting - octogenarian master Cornel Brudaşcu and his younger disciple Alin Bozbiciu.
Co-curated by Maria Rus Bojan and Thierry Morel, this intimate exhibition is an orchestrated visual experience that brings together portraiture and figurative compositions. Charting the artists’ master-apprentice relationship and their subsequent abiding friendship, it includes several portraits they have made of each other, their everyday surroundings, dance performances, as well as paintings that express their shared love for dogs.
A prominent figure in Romanian art since the 60s, Cornel Brudaşcu(b.1937) witnesed the country’s tumultous transition after the violent overthrow of the Communist government in the 1989 Revolution. One of the mentors of a group of younger figurative painters known internationally as the Cluj School, Brudaşcu’s influence on subsequent generations of Romanian artists is profound.
While Brudaşcu’s works are of small size and give a sense of a painterly continuum, Alin Bozbiciu’s (b. 1989) canvases are large, gestural and performative. Bozbiciu’s subjects are always captured in action as distorted figures tormented by existential dilemmas. His portraits and self-portraits exude an expressive quietude, their presence being deepened by the spontaneous brush gestures and blurred shapes in the background.
“We are very pleased to be able to host this incredibly personal and intimate exhibition in London, which tells a story of learning and friendship between these two outstanding artists. This project couldn’t be better aligned with the Foundations mission of maintaining historical artists legacies combined with giving visibility to exciting contemporary artists coming out of the Eastern European Region"
– Jonathan Tybel, Director of the European ArtEast Foundation.
