The exhibition integrates a series of mixed technique nib paintings executed in 2011 and 2012. It thematically follows the evolution of certain “characters”, such as angels, demons and contorted fragments, beyond their basic representation. Angels and demons, ambivalent images – they all prefigure different facets of the same “character”. Alongside such enigmatic “characters”, the exhibition contemplates feminine torsos and representations of anatomical details in an atypical visual succession.

Recurrent “presences”, similar at a first glance, are the foundation for repetitive projections of the oneiric world placed in a limbo, between dream and reality. Contextually, the hidden facet rests within the magnification of the world of the referents and the accrual of their “real” presence.

Incorporating explicit references to allegorical worlds, the titles of the paintings evoke early drafts of execution, duality, evolution, transparency and interpretation. The iconic shapes and “presences” betoken experiences that are to be found in the latent facets of things. The concept behind the miniature original works is rooted on the idea of a subsequent optical aggrandizement of the final painting.  The preferred technique seeks the dilatability of the painting in an optical experience of overexposed reality, thus allowing the visualization of chromatic oozing and the reactive behavior of the paper. The lines that substantiate the drawing tell “the story of the pelican”, a narration which turns out to be different from, but complementary to the definitive version of the painting. The other facet of the motifs becomes, by virtue of a search for the material, an animated, atemporal presence, scared by its interaction with the fluid element which attenuates “the state of grace” and consequently alters the initial imagery. Water, as an intermediary agent, facilitates the transposition towards the imaginary.  P. 4001… apparently… a color code!

“This animal, common in the north, is four or five inches long; its eyes are scarlet and its fur is jet black, silky, and soft as a pillow.

It is marked by a curious instinct — the taste for India ink. When a person sits down to write, the monkey squats cross-legged nearby with one forepaw folded over the other, waiting until the task is over. Then it drinks what is left of the ink, and afterward sits back on its haunches, quiet and satisfied.”

WANG TAI-HAI 1791

Alexandru Crisan is assistant-professor at the UAIM Bucharest (since 2004) and architect and project manager within his own private office of architecture and engineering. Complementary to his profession, his artistic presence favors virtual art-galleries over public appearances. His portfolio, comprising over 200 works (oil paintings, pastel, ink and crayon drawings, photography, etc) and completed in over 20 years, may be accessed via:  http://www.saatchionline.com/alexandrucrisan, http://alexandrucrisan.portfolio.artlimited.net