Teodor Graur: Ars longa, vita brevis. (The age of the artist is youth.)

opening: Friday, 4 June 2021, 4 – 8 pm

Sandwich, Combinatul Fondului Plastic

exhibition open: 04.06 – 31.07.2021

After a year in which he chose to revise his somewhat rigid standpoint towards the visual and the narrative and to react to the generally uncertain times through a radical change in his practice, Teodor Graur returns to his preffered medium – installation and favorite material – wood. Although in a lifelong relationship, these two still have the ability to surprise him. Taking advantage of the uneven spaces, the artist creates an outdoor – indoor trail centered not just on the creators’ process, but on what activates him, on the way he lets himself changed by the changes around him, the flexibility in deciding his own fate. Inside, design and sculpture from different stages. Outside, a sustained process of conversion.

​

The show begins, in fact, three weeks before its opening, during which the artist works daily on the Sandwich terrace in order to make his quota of splinters, meaning to sculpt, chop, carve in 200 years old wood half-trunks. Their prolonged presence is sharpened either by the longitudinal notches crossing them, or by the two flat sides that alter their cross-section. However, they only appear towards the end of the trail, having been preceded by the debris resulted by their own transformation. They lay down confidently on the concrete beams, almost camouflaged, almost discreet, outlining the unclear space.

​

We don’t have all the time in the world, but we are looking for that particular time in which we know exactly what we need to do, what process to choose, how long it will last and what tools are necessary. It is the pure luck of vividly seeing the next step, and the next after that, in a clear path in which physical effort is self-imposed and solitary days are a privilege.

Teodor Graur (b. 1953) is well-known for the way in which he uses found objects – either from flea markets or simply on the street – in complex installations and critical reconfigurations, “ecologic monuments” or “interior monuments”. His practice includes performance, photography, sculpture and installation, mediums that he easily transits, according to different stages. During the 90s he co-founded the group Euroartist Bucharest and has participated, among others, in the Art Biennials in Venice, Istanbul and Sao Paolo. Among his recent solo shows are SAMPLE of European Contemporary Art by Teodor Graur, Nicodim Gallery Los Angeles (2018), Nature-Culture. Star & Grey (Made in Romania), Nicodim Gallery Bucharest (2016), M, Plan B Cluj-Napoca (2016, duo with Cristian Rusu), Nostalgia, tranzit.ro/ Bucharest (2014). He recently took place in the group shows The Meaning of Sculpture at Sector 1 Gallery in Bucharest and Kunsthalle Bega in Timișoara. (2020 – 2021).