Ciprian Mureşan (b. 1977, Dej, Romania) belongs to a generation of Romanian artists who witnessed the ideological shifts after the fall of the Ceaușescu regime. His work can be understood against this background of accelerated transition and blurring of meanings and values. It constantly recontextualises historical anecdotes, iconic works of art, religious rituals and popular cultural forms, and in this way disrupts the well-defined narratives of (art) history. With a critical attitude and a diverging gaze, Ciprian Mureşan highlights the peculiarities and ills of our post-utopian era.
Mureşan's multifaceted imagery is contained in a methodology of reproduction and reference. For this exhibition, the artist made a scale model of S.M.A.K. for the presentation of a series of so-called 'palimpsest drawings', which he based on the images in the museum's new collection catalogue. In this way, he reduces all the works of art in the collection to a post-figurative state in a layered manner: a destructive and at the same time creative act that underlines the absurdity of also representing this history as a linear narrative. The exhibition takes this new installation as a starting point to further explore Mureşan's subjective approach to time, memory and processes of historicisation.The artist made this edition for the Friends on the occasion of his exhibition in S.M.A.K. in 2019-2020.
The edition refers to the film Andrei Rublev (1966), a major historical drama by Tarkovsky, about the life of the medieval icon painter Andrei Rublev. Tarkovsky and cinematographer Andrei Konchalovsky give a contemplative account of the task of an artist in a terror-stricken society. In his pursuit of a pure art form, master painter Rublev does not want to compromise. He remains silent. Later, he meets a jester whose use of language evades the power of the rulers. For this he is punished.
Ciprian Mureşan | Untitled (nine scenes from Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev)
15 + 2 a.p.'s, every copy is unique due to the pencil drawing on the lithograph.
Size: 32 x 24 cm lithography (3 stones) with original pencil drawing on Arches paper (57 x 38 cm)
Price: 650 euro (600 euro > members), without frame
Book your copy: info@vriendensmak.be. The edition is framed and hangs in the Friends' space. Free to visit during the opening hours of S.M.A.K. and without making a reservation.
Watch the trailer of the film Andrei Rublev, by the Russian film director, writer and actor Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (°4 April 1932 Russia - 29 December 1986 France). He is considered in cinephile circles as one of the greatest film artists in history.
