Ulise al lui Alexandru Rdvan

Exist un timp al lui Ulise, n lecturile i

imaginarul nostru. Pentru unii, muli,

fereastra ctre eroul lui Homer, zis i

Odiseu, se deschide i se nchide n

copilrie/adolescen. Pentru alii, puini,

Ulise devine un tovar de drum pe

termen lung. Este vorba despre acei

oameni, creatori de text/imagine, pentru

care Odiseu se transform n simbolul

Drumeului cuttor al Cunoaterii,

nvingtorul prin fora inteligenei dar i

prin cea fizic, dac o cer circumstanele...

Ulise mpinge limitele dialogului cu lumea,

pe diversele ei paliere, lupt pentru a

garanta constana unor caliti umane.

James Joyce a demonstrat c mitul rezist

i n modernitate, c Ulysses nu se

rtcete nici n secolul XX, dimpotriv.

Alexandru Rdvan transform unul din

reperele sale preferate de lectur, de

ntoarcere la Antichitate i la mit, ntr-un

adevr pluriform al artei contemporane.

Lumea lui Ulise l ademenea nc din anii

studeniei. Ea a revenit n prim-planul

sensibilitii i ateniei sale spre finalul

primului deceniu al noului mileniu.

Regsirea acestui Erou se traduce si prin

(re)descoperirea reprezentrii genuine a

atributelor masculinitii. Nuana

retractilitii ironic-parodice nu este dect

vag activat n context. Confruntarea cu

adversitile, antrenamentul sportiv

dezvolt un discurs care devine o

pledoarie pentru robusteea corporal a

atletului antic, iar prin extensie, a celui

dintotdeauna. Imaginea acestei

corporaliti triumftoare este esenializat

i, n fapt sporit de un calculat

primitivism al structurrii formale.

Ulise apare n ipostaze i din unghiuri

diverse, identitatea facial este variabil.

Sunt ns destule cazuri cnd percepem o

siluet vzut din spate, cel mult cu capul

ntors n profil... Odiseu devine aadar un

personaj generic, un reper uman tipologic.

Chiar i reprezentrile frontal-faciale ating

un grad sporit de generalitate. Ceva

nclzete, totui, aceste portrete

paradoxal depersonalizate: uneori un soi

de exaltare modular a trsturilor, alteori

cuibul haurilor colorate care definesc un

chip aceste observaii privesc mai ales

lucrrile realizate n 2012 n pastel gras.

n contextul datelor stilistice de

ansamblu, n opinia noastr, specificitile

de vocabular imagistic ale lui Alexandru

Rdvan provin i din inspirata confluen a

unor ecouri diferite ntre ele. Acestea se

topesc ntr-un coerent ton

particularizant, fr ca elementele care l

compun s fie, fiecare, neaprat, brand

new. n cazul universului tematic Ulise, cel

puin n ce privete desenele n pastel, ne

gndim mai ales la ecouri ale

Transavanguardiei hrnite i de exemple

greceti i romane antice. Pictura propriu-

zis confirm dimensiunea

neoexpresionist (cu posibile ingerine

italiene).

Pe de alt parte, portretele grupate n

seria transformabil n instalaie, de

monotipuri n tu pe calc (Oamenii lui

Ulise, 2011), sunt la rndul lor

tulburtoare: aceste chipuri, cu expresii

diverse, se nfieaz ca nite amprente

ale unor diferite stri ale umanului,

reprezentri neoexpresioniste i ele,

configurate prin intermediul petelor de

culoare. Par, totodat, glose pe tema

raportului ntre prezen i absen.

Sculpturile realizate cu ajutorul armturii

metalice, pnzei i pigmenilor, se afirm

ca exemple accentuat neoexpresioniste

(unele), pornind de la deja identificata

tipologie a primitivismului, creia i se

adaug date ale unei arheologizante

viziuni de tip body in pieces. Interveniile

picturale poteneaz spectacolul

atitudinal. Reliefurile n lemn sau n ciment

depun i ele mrturie pentru capacitatea

de sintez formal pe care o etaleaz n

de sintez formal pe care o etaleaz n

oper Alexandru Rdvan, pentru

sensibilitatea artistului fa de textura

materialului n care lucreaz i abilitatea

de a o pune n valoare.

Alexandru Rdvan mi mrturisea c

agreeaz din ce n ce mai mult lucrul n

volum i lupta cu materialul; faptul

plastic devine un fel de pictur/desen n

3D...

Fragmentele narative care se ataeaz

marii povestiri dedicate lui Ulise, i se

reveleaz artistului i se transform n

imagini n mprejurri cel mai adesea

nespectaculoase. Inspiraia se

declaneaz, nu rareori, n mediul familial.

n definitiv, nu nseamn Odiseea

ntoarcerea acas n orice limb a

planetei?

Adrian Gu

Alexandru Rdvan Ulyssese

Olvasmnyainkban s kpzeletnkben

Ulyssesnek kln ideje van. Egyesek, elg

sok ember, a Homrosz Odsszeusznak is

nevezett hst csak gyerek- s

kamaszkorukban ismerik: az els

idszakban tallkoznak vele, a msodikban

elbcsznak tle. Msok, kevesen, hossz

lejrat bartsgot polnak vele. Azokrl a

szveg- vagy kpalkotkrl van sz, akik

szmra Odsszeusz a Megismerst keres

Vndor jelkpv vlik, az intelligencia, de

ha a krlmnyek azt kvnjk, a fizikai

er rvn is Diadalmaskodv Ulysses

tovbb feszti a vilggal val prbeszd

korltait, a vilg klnbz emeletein

gyakorolja kvncsisgt s rtelmt, azrt

kzd, hogy bizonyos emberi kvalitsok

tarts mivoltt biztostsa. James Joyce

bebizonytotta, hogy a mtosz a

modernitsban is aktulis, hogy Ulysses a

XX. szzadban sem tved el, ppen

ellenkezleg.

Alexandru Rdvan nem tesz mst, mint

hogy egyik kedvenc olvasmnyt, mely

ltal visszatr az korhoz s a mtoszhoz,

a kortrs mvszet sokfle s szmtalan

formj igazsgv vltoztatja. Ulysses

vilga mr dikveitl kezdve

foglalkoztatta, s az j vezred els

vtizednek vge fel jra visszatrt

rzkenysge s figyelme kzppontjba.

Ennek a hsnek az jrafelfedezst tbbek

kztt gy fordtja mvszett, hogy

(jra)felfedezi a maszkulinits

tulajdonsgainak zsigeri brzolst. Az

ironikus-parodikus visszahzds

rnyalatt csak vzlatosan mkdteti. Az

ellenfelekkel s nehzsgekkel val

kzds, a sportos edzs olyan diskurzust

fejleszt ki, amely az kori atlta, s

kiterjeszts rvn a mindenkori atlta

dicsretv vlik. Ennek a diadalmaskod

testisgnek a kpt a lnyegre egyszersti

s felgyaraptja a formlis struktra

tgondolt primitivizmusval.

Ulysses klnbz helyzetekben s

szgekbl brzoldik, arca is vltozik.

Elg gyakori azonban, hogy htulrl ltjuk,

legfeljebb profilbl Odsszeusz teht

ltalnos, tipikus emberi szemlyisg lesz.

Mg a szembli brzolsok is nagyfok

ltalnossgot hordoznak. Valami

mgiscsak melegti ezeket a paradox

mdon elszemlytelenedett portrkat:

olykor a vonsok eltlzsa, mskor a

sznes satrozs fszke, amely

meghatroz egy arcot ezek a

megfigyelsek elssorban azokra a

mvekre vonatkoznak, melyek 2012-ben

kszltek darabos pasztellsznekkel

megfestve.

Ami most mr az ltalban vett stilisztikai

adatokat illeti, vlemnyem szerint

Alexandru Rdvan kpi szkincsnek

sajtossgai abbl is szrmazik, hogy

ihletetten egybedolgozott bizonyos

egymstl klnbz hatsokat. Ezek

egy mindent partikulriss tev tnusban

olvadnak ssze, anlkl, hogy a

klnbz sszetevk mindegyike

felttlenl mai lenne.Az Ulysses tematikj

univerzum esetben, legalbbis, ami a

pasztellrajzokat illeti, elssorban a

Transavanguardia hatsra gondolok,

melyeket grg s rmai pldk is

befolysoltak. Maga a fests mdja

expresszionizmust is hordoz (olasz

fuvallatokkal).

Msfell az installcira vlthat

portrsorozat, a pauszpaprra rajzolt

monotpusok (Ulysses emberei, 2011) a

maguk sorn szintn felkavarak: ezek a

vltozatos kifejezst hordoz arcok gy

jelennek meg, mint klnbz emberi

llapotok ujjlenyomatai, expresszionistk

ezek is, a sznfoltok rvn felvzoltak.

Ugyanakkor a jelenlthiny kztti

viszony margjra rajzolt etdknek

tnnek.

A fm, vszon s festkanyag segtsgvel

megformlt szobrok kzl nhnyan

hangslyozottam expresszionista

vonsokkal teltettek, s a primitivizmus

immr azonostott tipolgijbl indulnak

ki, melyhez body in pieces-tpus

rgszeti ltsmd jegyei jrulnak. A

festi beavatkozsok az attitd-beli

eladst teszik lehetv. A fbl s

cementbl kszlt dombormvek szintn

arrl a formlis szintziskpessgrl

rulkodnak, amelyet Alexandru Rdvan

mve tanst, a mvsz rzkenysgrl

annak az anyagnak a textrjt illeten,

amellyel dolgozik s arrl a kpessgrl,

amellyel mondani tud valamit ltala.

Alexandru Rdvan bevallotta nekem, hogy

egyre jobban szereti a nagy tmeg

anyagot s a vele val kzdelmet; a

plasztika egyfajta 3D-ben megalkotott

festmnny-rajzz vlik

Az Ulyssesnek szentelt nagy

elbeszlshez tartoz narratv rszletek

megjelennek a mvsz eltt s

legtbbszr kevss ltvnyos

krlmnyek kztt alakulnak t kpekk.

Az ihlet nem is ritkn csaldi krben indul

be. Vgs soron mit jelent az Odsszeia a

vilg brmely nyelvn, ha nem azt:

hazatrs?

Adrian Gu

Fordtotta: Demny Pter

The Ulysses of Alexandru Rdvan

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 Rdvan 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

Rdvan'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 Rdvan, 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 Rdvan 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 Gu

Translated by Eld Mrton

Alexandru RDVANthDate 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 Neumnster, Luxembourg, curated by Didier Damiani

2011 - Christ, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest

2009 - Wond'ring aloud, Anaid Art Gallery, Bucharest

2008 - Zeus & Europa, Calina Gallery, Timioara

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, Bistria

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 hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series I., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice II., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series II., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice IV., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series IV., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice V., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series V., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VI., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VI., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VII., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VII., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice VIII., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series VIII., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice IX., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series IX., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012Seria Atletice III., pastel gras pe hrtie, 72x51cm, 2012Athletic Series III., oily pastel on paper, 72x51cm, 2012

Oamenii lui Ulise I., monotipie (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses I., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise III., monotipie (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses III., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise IV., monotipie (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses IV., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise V., monotipie (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011People of Ulysses V., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Alexandru Rdvan - Oamenii lui Ulise, instalatie 45 de monotipii (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011Alexandru Rdvan - People of Ulysses, installation of 45 monotips (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Oamenii lui Ulise VI., monotipie (tu pe hrtie de calc), 42x30cm, 2011 People of Ulysses VI., monotype (ink on tracing paper), 42x30cm, 2011Petera lui Polifem, acrilic pe pnz nepreparat, 277x154cm, 2012Cave of Polyphemus, acrylic on unprepared canvas 277x154cm, 2012Ulise i Sirenele, tehnica mixt: armatur metalic; pnz i pigmeni, 2011Ulysses and the Sirens, mixed technique: metal armatures, canvas and pigments, 2011Troia, tehnica mixt: armatur metalic; pnz i pigmeni, 2009-2011Troy, mixed technique: metal armatures, canvas and pigments, 2009-2011Fr titlu, lemn de brad pictat cu culori vinilice, 2011Untitled, pine wood painted with vinyl color, 2011