Ex-East. Past and recent stories of the Romanian avant-gardes

The exhibition will be open to public view from February 5th to
March 16th 2019 in the main hall of the French Communist
Party headquarters, an exceptional building designed by the
modernist Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
The main protagonists of modern art will stand alongside the
actors of the contemporary scene with a view to highlight the
essential contribution of the Romanian artists to the 20th
century and the undeniable contribution of the new
generations and their ways of relating to the present time.
From Constantin Brâncuşi to Geta Brătescu, from Tristan
Tzara to Adrian Ghenie and from Victor Brauner to Ana
Lupaș, a new series of iconic works will be represented in this
highly symbolic place.

A “small nation” at the borders of the Levant,
Romania has been successful, in the early 20th
century, in bringing to light undeniable and
uncontested figures: Constantin Brâncuşi and
his echo, fundamental to the thought that
structured all 20th century art, or Tristan Tzara,
co-founder and icon of the Dada movement.
The painters Marcel Iancu, Victor Brauner, and
Jacques Hérold are legitimate actors in this grand
narrative. The same goes for Isidore Isou, whose
poetic ingenuity and originality never cease to amaze
us. The sudden irruption of the Romanian avant-
gardes on the international scene is to be read from
the perspective of a flourishing and abundant cultural
history, which, since its inception, has never stopped
integrating Western art and changing it through
tremendous contributions.
The post-war period and the Communist regime
with its share of reactions and ideological rigidity,
have nevertheless revealed specific avant-garde
attitudes, detached from the Western utopias and
ideologies but equally complex and radical in
terms of formal and conceptual vocabulary. After
the fall of the wall, contemporary inquiries have
developed in the light of a new era with a view to
overcome boundaries imposed by the dominance
of the political and cultural dictatorship.

Artists: Arthur Segal, Constantin Brâncuşi, Marcel Iancu, Tristan Tzara, Benjamin Fondane, Victor Brauner, Jacques Hérold, Horia Damian, Isidore Isou, Geta Brătescu, Pavel Ilie, Ştefan Bertalan, Andrei Cădere, Roman Cotoșman, Constantin Flondor, Cornel Brudaşcu, Horia Bernea, Florin Mitroi, Paul Neagu, Ana Lupaș, Mihai Olos, Doru Tulcan, Decebal Scriba, Ion Grigorescu, Rudolf Bone, Miklós Onucsan, Teodor Graur, Iosif Király, SubREAL, Dan Perjovschi, Daniel Knorr, Kinema Ikon, Aurora Király, Victor Man, Anca Munteanu Rîmnic, Simon Cantemir Hauși, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan, Mircea Cantor, Adrian Ghenie, Ciprian Mureşan, Gabriela Vanga, Şerban Savu, Mircea Suciu, Liliana Basarab, Marius Bercea, Vlad Nancă, Ioana Nemeş, Andra Ursuța, Olivia Mihălțianu, Alex Mirutziu, Pusha Petrov, Mi Kafchin, Lea Rasovszky