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