Artists: Norbert Costin, Alexandra Mereuți, Mălina Moncea, Sarah Muscalu
Curator: Matei Bejenaru
Exhibition: 6.09.2021 – 3.10.2021
Opening: 6.09.2021, 19 – 21 h

We are not as naive as to believe that what we would call the new generation is something that can be in any way anticipated or evaluated by a certain language or in a key that is already academized and therefore dead. What interests us in this context is to draw the boundaries of a battlefield, of a fighting ring, to set the (impossible) framework for a revolution to come. For we are certain that it would do nothing else but end something that has not been yet started, or repeat that which is already well known. The artists we call established do not look for intelligible things or people but rather persevere in placing their finger on something that burns, even if it would do nothing but announce their own demise.

Artists like Ciprian Mureșan, Șerban Savu, Matei Bejenaru, Manuel Pelmuș, Mona Vătămanu
and Florin Tudor, Monotremu (Laura Borotea and Gabriel Boldiș), Miklósi Dénes and Miklós Szilárd, Ágnes-Evelin Kispál and Attila Kispál are letting themselves be challenged by the curatorial team of the Paintbrush Factory and engaged in an act of working with the stakes and local communities, by selecting artists from younger generations and curating an exhibition featuring their works. – Răzvan Anton and Mihai Iepure-Górski

Well-known Romanian artists and their younger peers are brought together under the umbrella of Future Perfect to propose exhibitions in which they discuss intergenerational relations and the challenges that the independent artistic scene in Romania faces. Matei Bejenaru’s curatorial proposition is an exhibition on photography, for which he has invited four young artists working in this field to participate: Mălina Moncea, Alexandra Mereuți, Norbert Costin, and Sarah Muscalu.
The concept of the exhibition The Photographic_01 is inspired by the texts of the art critic Rosalind Krauss published in the journal October at the beginning of the 1980s. In her analysis of the medium of photography, she discusses the discursive spaces of photography seen more as a theoretical rather than an aesthetic subject-matter. Starting from these considerations, the exhibition is structured around the themes of representation, the fluid limits of photography in relation to other media and, last but not least, memory. The artistic projects on display employ photography as documentary or as part of multimedia assemblages, or photographic principles are applied to other media, such as drawing or painting.
As I was putting together this exhibition, I wondered about the engagement of the artists invited. Although on deeper levels there exist political references in their works, I believe that these fit more into the line of artistic research that analyses artistic media and languages. These pursuits are still not prevalent in Romanian visual arts, and they require an appropriate theoretical and critical context. I truly hope that in the future the Romanian artistic infrastructure will develop in a way to be able to offer a real chance for these artists to continue their projects. – Matei Bejenaru, curator

The exhibition was carried out by the Paintbrush Factory Federation alongside the MAGMA Contemporary Medium association.
Partners: Szekler National Museum, Covasna County Council
With the support of: Administration of the National Cultural Fund, City Hall and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca, City Hall of Sfântu Gheorghe
The event is part of the Living the future program – ways to support artistic creation in an impossible time.
Cultural program co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The program does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.
Project organized with the support of the City Hall and the Local Council of Cluj-Napoca.