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Mircea Suciu
Selected works

● Mircea Suciu

Selected works

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Mircea Suciu
News

Mircea Suciu at Mennour, Paris

EARTHLY DELIGHTS

Mennour, Paris, France
September 12 - October 7, 2023

ZENO X GALLERY - Mircea Suciu at Mennour, Paris

Mircea Suciu: new publication

THE LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS

Published by SAC Bucharest, Romania, 2022

ZENO X GALLERY - Mircea Suciu: new publication

Mircea Suciu at CFHILL, Stockholm

MIRROR, MIRROR? CONTEMPORARY SELFHOOD IN ROMANIAN ART

CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden
September 3 - October 10, 2021

ZENO X GALLERY - Mircea Suciu at CFHILL, Stockholm

Mircea Suciu at the Triennial of Bruges

TRIENNALE BRUGGE 2021: TRAUMA

Poortersloge, Bruges, Belgium
May 8 - September 26, 2021

ZENO X GALLERY - Mircea Suciu at the Triennial of Bruges

Mircea Suciu at SAC Bucharest

THE LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS

SAC Bucharest, Romania
October 31, 2020 - February 21, 2021

ZENO X GALLERY - Mircea Suciu at SAC Bucharest

● Mircea Suciu

News

Mircea Suciu
Biography

Mircea Suciu, b. 1978 in Baia Mare (RO), lives and works in Cluj (RO).

Mircea Suciu uses both art-historical and pop-culture references to create his unique visual idiom. These sources are interpreted and translated into a personal language where figuration and abstraction complement and enhance each other. Over the years, Suciu has developed his own multilayered graphic style, one that incorporates different media and which he calls ‘monotype’. After transferring a photographic image onto the canvas, Suciu applies both acrylic and oil paint. The monoprint allows him to balance the composition while the paint adds colour and texture to the work.

Both visually and technically, Mircea Suciu aims to break away from the classical idea of the image as a unitary, compact representation of a single subject. Through his seemingly eclectic choice of imagery, he strives for iconicity in a world dominated by a multitude of images. Anxiety, violence and oppression have always been important themes in Suciu's work. He grew up under a communist dictatorship which made him interested in how images function, how they can manipulate or emancipate.

Mircea Suciu has had solo exhibitions at SAC (Bucharest) and National Museum of Contemporary Art (Bucharest). He has participated in various biennials and triennials, including the Bruges Triennial, the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, the 4th Prague Biennale, 11th Istanbul Biennial, 16th Vilnius Painting Triennial and the Timisoara Biennial. His work has featured in group exhibitions such as MARe Museum of Recent Art (Bucharest), Kunstmuseum Bochum, Weserburg Museum (Bremen), Museum Beelden aan Zee (The Hague), Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Espace Louis Vuitton (Paris), Fondation Francès (Senlis), Maison Particulière (Brussels), MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Art (Debrecen) and Budapest Hall of Art.

Mircea Suciu joined the gallery in 2014.

● Mircea Suciu

Biography

Mircea Suciu
Photo
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Kim Jones, Jenny Scobel, Mircea Suciu
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Delta
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 22.02 - 22.04 2023
Kim Jones, Jenny Scobel, Mircea Suciu
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Delta
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 22.02 - 22.04 2023
Kim Jones, Jenny Scobel, Mircea Suciu
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Delta
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 22.02 - 22.04 2023
Kim Jones, Jenny Scobel, Mircea Suciu
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Delta
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 22.02 - 22.04 2023
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Kim Jones, Jenny Scobel, Mircea Suciu
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Delta
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 22.02 - 22.04 2023
1/16
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

N. Dash, Jan De Maesschalck, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Kees Goudzwaard, Susan Hartnett, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Naoto Kawahara, Martin Margiela, Philip Metten, Paulo Monteiro, Jockum Nordström, Marina Rheingantz, Pietro Roccasalva, Grace Schwindt, Jenny Scobel, Hyun-Sook Song, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Jack Whitten
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40 Years Zeno X Gallery - the two-thousands
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp South | 24.09 - 12.11 2022
1/23
Mircea Suciu
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Bleeding Heart
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 01.09 - 23.10 2021
Mircea Suciu
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Bleeding Heart
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 01.09 - 23.10 2021
Mircea Suciu
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Bleeding Heart
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 01.09 - 23.10 2021
Mircea Suciu
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Bleeding Heart
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 01.09 - 23.10 2021
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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Bleeding Heart
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Zeno X Gallery Antwerp Borgerhout | 01.09 - 23.10 2021
1/13

● Bleeding Heart

 

Zeno X Gallery is pleased to present Bleeding Heart, the fourth solo exhibition by Mircea Suciu (b. 1978, Cluj) in Antwerp. The show includes thirteen paintings offering an overview of the recent developments in his work.

The exhibition takes its title from the derogatory (political) term for a person considered to be excessively soft-hearted or liberal. Before surfacing in conservative rhetoric as a term of disparagement for more liberal politicians, the term was used in religious writings and iconography in reference to the heart of Jesus Christ and was found in literature to describe sincere emotional outpourings. As an artist, Mircea Suciu is deeply fascinated by humankind and its actions. Through his art, he seeks to understand the world around him and to process it until he reaches a conclusive result.

The human condition is the main focus of his work. Suciu is intrigued by the tragedies human beings inflict upon each other but also by humankind’s frailty as well as its ability to constantly adapt and evolve. Through his work he refers to and reflects upon the histories of violence, oppression and abuse of power which he connects with the current state of humankind. His images are meant to push the viewer to meditate upon history in order to arrive at a feeling of compassion with the depicted subject.

The artist often works in series, returning to themes which he continuously seeks to improve. One of these is the reinterpretation of Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas, which was painted at the height of the Spanish Golden Age. Looking at this work from a twenty-first-century perspective, one can no longer ignore the topics of colonialism and racism, the effects of which are still with us today.

Another prominent theme in this exhibition is the still life. Inspired by his seventeenth-century predecessors, Suciu adapts well-known vanity motifs such as skulls and dead birds to further explore his interest in human behavior. Humanity is defined by contrasting actions, from cruelty to grace, from acts of aggression to sympathy or compassion.

The artist also draws upon more recent art-historical and cultural references such as minimalism, pop art and cinema to create his highly unique visual language. These sources are interpreted and translated into a personal idiom where figuration and abstraction complement and enhance each other. Technically too, his work is rich and multilayered. Over the years, Suciu has developed his own graphic style, one that incorporates different media and which he calls ‘monotype’. After transferring a photographic image onto the canvas, Suciu applies both acrylic and oil paint. The monoprint allows him to balance the composition while the paint adds color and texture to the work.

Both visually and technically, Mircea Suciu aims to break away from the classical idea of composition as a unitary, compact representation of a single subject. Through this seemingly eclectic choice of imagery, he strives for iconicity in a world that is dominated by all sorts of images. For him, an iconic image combines meaning as well as materiality. His work reminds us that there are no simple answers to complicated questions. It is a constant quest to understand and take control of the contradictions of the human condition and to find beauty and balance through a multitude of perspectives.

Mircea Suciu has held solo shows at SAC Bucharest and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest. He has participated in various biennials and triennials, including the Bruges Triennial, the Gwangju Biennial in South Korea, the 4th Prague Biennial, 11th Istanbul Biennial, 16th Vilnius Painting Triennial and the Timisoara Biennial. His work has featured in several group exhibitions, such as MARe, Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Weserburg Museum in Bremen, Museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Espace Louis Vuitton in Paris, Fondation Francès in Senlis, Maison Particulière in Brussels, MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Art in Debrecen and Mucsarnok Kunsthalle in Budapest. 

Mircea Suciu
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The Light of Recent Events
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SAC Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania | 31.10 2020 - 21.02 2021
Mircea Suciu
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The Light of Recent Events
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SAC Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania | 31.10 2020 - 21.02 2021
Mircea Suciu
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The Light of Recent Events
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SAC Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania | 31.10 2020 - 21.02 2021
Mircea Suciu
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The Light of Recent Events
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SAC Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania | 31.10 2020 - 21.02 2021
exhibition

● Solo exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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The Light of Recent Events
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SAC Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania | 31.10 2020 - 21.02 2021
1/7
Mircea Suciu
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Hotel Empathy
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.03 - 27.04 2019
Mircea Suciu
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Hotel Empathy
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.03 - 27.04 2019
Mircea Suciu
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Hotel Empathy
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.03 - 27.04 2019
Mircea Suciu
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Hotel Empathy
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.03 - 27.04 2019
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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Hotel Empathy
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.03 - 27.04 2019
1/15

● Hotel Empathy

 

Zeno X Gallery is pleased to present Hotel Empathy, the third solo exhibition in Antwerp by Mircea Suciu (b. 1978, Romania).

During his youth, Mircea Suciu witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain and the way people tried to rediscover their cultural and personal identity. At the same time American culture played an important role in both his upbringing and the formation of his visual language. Over the years Suciu has also spent two working periods in New York; he lived in the United States at the beginning of his career around 2008 and last year. Suciu discovered that several American artists were among his favourites, such as John Baldessari and Robert Rauschenberg. The way these artists freely combine different techniques and styles was a source of inspiration for the artist. Over the years he developed his own graphic technique, one that also incorporates different media and which he calls ‘monotype’: after transferring a photographic image onto the canvas, Suciu then applies both acrylic and oil paint. The monoprint allows him to balance the composition while the paint adds colour and texture to the work. He simultaneously conceals and reveals. For him, the process is as important as the final image.

Suciu not only uses a wide range of graphic techniques to compose images, but he also resorts to various types of images. He often recycles images that are part of our collective memory or that seem familiar, ranging from a Campbell soup can to an identifiable character of a baroque painting. Through this seemingly eclectic choice of imagery he strives for iconicity in a world that is constantly being overwhelmed by all sorts of images. Suciu is interested in the mechanisms behind an image – how the impact can be immediate and how an image can be deceiving or rather emancipating. By working in series, he tries to exhaust certain motifs and to reach the essence of an image. The images could be seen as echoes that become more real through repetition, making it harder for one to escape them.

Mircea Suciu feels an urge to confront the viewer with the world we live in:

‘We tend to blame someone else: God, evil, destiny. There is no evil; there is no God; we are to blame in all cases. It is our weakness; it is the corruption of our minds and souls that creates the problems we confront in our society. The lack of education is the main factor that drives us into the pit of these sad moments. Our lack of involvement produces these catastrophic events. From dictatorship to war to climate change, we as individuals and as a society are the ones responsible. Standing, watching in oblivion, we expect a higher entity to solve this mess, and if it does not, we blame it on evil. The war we are experiencing is within ourselves.’

Suciu confronts classical beauty with images of fear and disruption. He juxtaposes representational imagery and abstraction to break through a simple reality, perspective and narrative. The images feel emotionally charged while the abstract geometrical patterns add a rational and orderly touch. The series Strange Fruit, for example, is based on the painting Las Meniñas (1656) by Diego Velazquez and pictures the young Infanta Margaret Theresa. The title Strange Fruit refers to the famous poem that condemns racism and specifically the lynching of Afro-Americans. The combination of these elements tries to bring to attention the brutalities that took place during the reign of the Spanish kings, such as the Inquisition and colonisation.

The title of the exhibition, Hotel Empathy, suggests a temporary home for the works that will host them with understanding and compassion.

Mircea Suciu’s work was part of the Gwangju Biennale in 2014 and was the subject of a solo show organized at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest. His work has been included in exhibitions at Kunsthal Rotterdam, MARe Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Weserburg in Bremen, Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Espace Louis Vuitton in Paris, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Fondation Francès in Senlis, Maison Particulière in Brussels, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in Debrecen, Mucsarnok Kunsthalle in Budapest, the 4th Prague Biennale, 16th Vilnius Painting Triennial and the 11th Istanbul Biennial. 

Anton Corbijn, Raoul De Keyser, Jan De Maesschalck, Yun-Fei Ji, Johannes Kahrs, Grace Schwindt, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Cristof Yvoré
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 17.01 - 24.02 2018
Anton Corbijn, Raoul De Keyser, Jan De Maesschalck, Yun-Fei Ji, Johannes Kahrs, Grace Schwindt, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Cristof Yvoré
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 17.01 - 24.02 2018
Anton Corbijn, Raoul De Keyser, Jan De Maesschalck, Yun-Fei Ji, Johannes Kahrs, Grace Schwindt, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Cristof Yvoré
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 17.01 - 24.02 2018
Anton Corbijn, Raoul De Keyser, Jan De Maesschalck, Yun-Fei Ji, Johannes Kahrs, Grace Schwindt, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Cristof Yvoré
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 17.01 - 24.02 2018
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Anton Corbijn, Raoul De Keyser, Jan De Maesschalck, Yun-Fei Ji, Johannes Kahrs, Grace Schwindt, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Cristof Yvoré
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 17.01 - 24.02 2018
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Mircea Suciu
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Ship of Fools
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.04 - 11.06 2016
Mircea Suciu
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Ship of Fools
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.04 - 11.06 2016
Mircea Suciu
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Ship of Fools
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.04 - 11.06 2016
Mircea Suciu
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Ship of Fools
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.04 - 11.06 2016
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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Ship of Fools
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Zeno X Gallery | 20.04 - 11.06 2016
1/14

● Ship of Fools

 

Zeno X Gallery is pleased to present Ship of Fools, a second solo exhibition by Mircea Suciu  (b. 1978) in Antwerp. In this exhibition, Suciu expresses our fears and reacts to the world we presently live in, which does not seem all that different from the past. Throughout human history, societies have experienced alternating periods of growth, success and hope but also of fear, disasters, political struggles and wars. Today, we are anxious about religious fundamentalism, nationalism and war. These fears terrorize many lives and seem to close in on us. They affect our emotions, human behaviour and psychology. As a young Romanian, Suciu witnessed the fall of the iron curtain and the way people tried to reconstruct or rediscover their cultural and personal identity. Suddenly, people were free again in their choice to turn their gaze to the West or the East. Yet several threats have called this semblance of freedom and democracy into question again, and this throughout Europe. As an artist, Suciu feels both the freedom and the urge to confront the viewer with the world we live in. He reproduces pictures of historical dramatic events and integrates them as a background into his compositions in which the human figure takes central place. Suciu does not depict horror or drama but rather a tension created through postures and gestures that express dominance, fragility, defence and protection. A recurrent motif in this exhibition is the chair. Combined with a human head it stands, according to a Romanian expression, for wisdom. Refugees have to rely on their intelligence; it is the only possession they can carry with them on their travels. Can wisdom and critical thinking be our salvation?

The title of the exhibition refers to a German satirical allegory from the late 15th century, which was published by the humanist and theologian Sebastian Brant (1457-1521). The fool in society was often free to speak out and voice criticism without being censored, since people generally did not pay any attention to his words. He is not an average figure and observes the world from the sidelines. His words are not seen as an expression of logic or coherence, although one must often admit, that the fool speaks the clear truth. The fool and the artist might not be the same figure but they have something in common, a desire to understand, to confront and to provoke. Suciu does not want to idealize, conceal or escape. He digs into our minds and our souls and reveals. He recycles images that are part of our collective memory or seem familiar. They are echoes and through repetition they become real, making it impossible for one to escape them.

For Suciu, a strong and iconic image is the culmination of meaning and materiality. He is a process painter and combines a technique of monoprint with oil and acrylic paint. Creation is followed by destruction and restoration. The surface is damaged and leaves marks in order to intensify the narrative and the heritage of (art) history, while exploring the future of the medium.

In 2014, his work was part of the Gwangju Biennial and the subject, in 2015, of a solo show organized at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest.  Work of Mircea Suciu was also on view in the exhibitions ‘Scènes Roumaines’ at the Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, ‘Defaced’ at the Boulder Museum of Contempoary Art, Boulder, ‘Hybrid’ at the Fondation Francès, Senlis, ‘Sex, Money and Power’ at Maison Particulière, Brussels, ‘Nightfall - New tendencies in Figurative Painting’ at the MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art, Debrecen, ‘European Travelers’ at the Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, the 4th Biennial of Prague and the 11th Biennial of Istanbul. 

Mircea Suciu
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The Fracture
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National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania | 04.06 - 01.11 2015
Mircea Suciu
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The Fracture
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National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania | 04.06 - 01.11 2015
Mircea Suciu
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The Fracture
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National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania | 04.06 - 01.11 2015
Mircea Suciu
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The Fracture
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National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania | 04.06 - 01.11 2015
exhibition

● Solo exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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The Fracture
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National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania | 04.06 - 01.11 2015
1/7
Raoul De Keyser, Johannes Kahrs, Mark Manders, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh
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Zeno X Gallery | 06.05 - 27.06 2015
Raoul De Keyser, Johannes Kahrs, Mark Manders, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh
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Zeno X Gallery | 06.05 - 27.06 2015
Raoul De Keyser, Johannes Kahrs, Mark Manders, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh
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Zeno X Gallery | 06.05 - 27.06 2015
Raoul De Keyser, Johannes Kahrs, Mark Manders, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh
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Zeno X Gallery | 06.05 - 27.06 2015
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Raoul De Keyser, Johannes Kahrs, Mark Manders, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh
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Zeno X Gallery | 06.05 - 27.06 2015
1/9
Mircea Suciu
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Root and Branch
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Zeno X Gallery | 21.01 - 28.02 2015
Mircea Suciu
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Root and Branch
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Zeno X Gallery | 21.01 - 28.02 2015
Mircea Suciu
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Root and Branch
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Zeno X Gallery | 21.01 - 28.02 2015
Mircea Suciu
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Root and Branch
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Zeno X Gallery | 21.01 - 28.02 2015
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Mircea Suciu
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Root and Branch
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Zeno X Gallery | 21.01 - 28.02 2015
1/11

● Root and Branch

 

Zeno X Gallery proudly presents the first solo exhibition of the young Romanian artist Mircea Suciu (°1978). His paintings and drawings combine abstraction and figuration and often deal with socio-political themes. Suciu reflects on the implications of a life under a dominating political regime. Protests against war and occupation are inevitably accompanied by a questioning of cultural identity, national frustrations and social changes. Mircea Suciu translated these phenomena into images, paying particular attention to the psychological impact experienced by the population. The artist is particularly fascinated with the psychology of the individual in times of social and political crisis. The installation ‘Dust to Dust’, shown a few months ago at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, brings all these ideas together in an overwhelming manner. It contains fifty works on paper, which refer to key political events in modern world history. The diversity of techniques used by the artist results in an extraordinary mosaic of images, which testifies of Suciu’s interest in the exploration of the pictorial possibilities of representation. Mircea Suciu used to recuperate images mostly from magazines and newspapers. The works ‘1988’ and ‘1988 (2)’ are also based on photographs of Ceaușescu’s hands which Suciu found in an archive. Recently he started staging and making photographs himself. This allows him to create an individual visual language and further the metaphorical power of his work. While the subjects the artist chooses clearly hark back to the past, he never fails to focus on the present and the future. Suciu avoids dogmas, conventions and genres, while simultaneously exploring the limits and possibilities of this charged medium.

Suciu uses a technique in which oil is mixed with acrylic and then applied on a monoprint on paper or canvas. The photographic image of the monoprint allows him to organize the details and the composition while the paint adds colour and texture to the works. He simultaneously conceals and reveals. For Suciu, the process is as important as the final image. The work undergoes different stages of creation, destruction and restoration in order to create a damaged surface; layeredness in terms of both meaning and physical form is a crucial aspect for Suciu.

‘Root and Branch’, the title of the exhibition, on the one hand refers to the Root and Branch Petition of 1641, which led to a separation of church and state in the London Parliament. Mircea Suciu’s works also show a world in which belief in God and the church no longer exist. The figures in his paintings attempt to take control of their own destiny. ‘Root and Branch’, on the other hand, refers to something that has been thoroughly done. Suciu often works in series in order to exhaust certain motifs until he reaches the essence of an image. Finally, the ‘root’ can also be understood metaphorically as the foundation or the core of something. The communist past of Romania remains an important issue for the artist. The series entitled ‘Moving to the left / right’ and ‘Iron Curtain’ address the tensions in Eastern Europe between West-minded people and the supporters of the communist model. The camouflage works provide a broader critique on global politics and the way in which society manipulates and ‘camouflages’ events.

Suciu tries to create images which thematically and pictorially trigger the curiosity of the public. Loaded themes are powerfully translated into a formally harmonious visual language.

Work of Mircea Suciu was shown in the exhibition “Scènes Roumaines” at Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris (FR), “Defaced” at the Boulder Museum of Contempoary Art, Boulder (US),”Hybrid” at Fondation Francès, Senlis (FR), “Sex, Money and Power” at Maison Particulière, Brussels (BE), ‘Nightfall - New tendencies in Figurative Painting’ at the MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art, Debrecen (HU), “European Travelers’ at Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest (HU), the 4th Biennial Prague (CZ) and the 11th Istanbul Biennial (TR).

In 2015, Mircea Suciu will also have a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (RO).

Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Mark Manders, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 12.11 - 20.12 2014
Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Mark Manders, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 12.11 - 20.12 2014
Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Mark Manders, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 12.11 - 20.12 2014
Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Mark Manders, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 12.11 - 20.12 2014
exhibition

● Zeno X Gallery exhibition

Michaël Borremans, Raoul De Keyser, Yun-Fei Ji, Kim Jones, Mark Manders, Bart Stolle, Mircea Suciu, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
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Works on Paper I
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Zeno X Gallery | 12.11 - 20.12 2014
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Mircea Suciu
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Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House
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Gwangju, The Republic of Korea | 05.09 - 09.11 2014
Mircea Suciu
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Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House
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Gwangju, The Republic of Korea | 05.09 - 09.11 2014
Mircea Suciu
Read more
-
Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House
|
Gwangju, The Republic of Korea | 05.09 - 09.11 2014
Mircea Suciu
Read more
-
Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House
|
Gwangju, The Republic of Korea | 05.09 - 09.11 2014
exhibition

● group exhibition

Mircea Suciu
Read more
-
Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House
|
Gwangju, The Republic of Korea | 05.09 - 09.11 2014
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● Gwangju Biennale 2014: Burning Down the House

 

curator: Jessica Morgan

● Mircea Suciu

CV

Mircea Suciu
CV
Download full CV

Zeno X Gallery exhibitions

2021
2019
2016
2015

Selected solo exhibitions

2023
Earthly Delights, Mennour, Paris, France
2020
Universal Fatigue, Blain|Southern, New York, United States of America
2018
A Touch of Evil, Jason Haam, Seoul, The Republic of Korea
Usual Suspects, SPAȚIU INTACT, Cluj, Romania
2015
2012
Black Milk, AEROPLASTICS contemporary, Brussels, Belgium
2011
Telltale, Galerie Brandt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Full Moon, Laika Gallery, Cluj, Romania
2010
A Matter of Life and Death, SLAG Gallery, New York, United States of America
2009
The Fall, SLAG Gallery, New York, United States of America
2008
How Deep The Rabbit Hole Goes, SLAG Gallery, New York, United States of America
2007
Simple Things, Galerie Mie Lefever, Destelbergen, Belgium
2006
The National Museum of Art of Romania, ING Event, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

Selected group exhibitions

2023
Jason Haam: Five Years, Part Two, Jason Haam, Seoul, The Republic of Korea
2022
Public Opening, BAC Art Space, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Belonging, The Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland
Traverser les silences, Dilecta, Paris, France
2021
Mirror, Mirror? Contemporary Selfhood in Romanian Art, CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden
Scapes, SLAG Gallery, New York, United States of America
(Re-)Birth of Venus: Renaissance 2.0, Pulpo Gallery, Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany
Triënnale Brugge 2021: TraumA, Poortersloge, Bruges, Belgium
2020
MaytoDay, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, The Republic of Korea
Spring of Democracy, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, The Republic of Korea
2019
Feeling Called Love. Collection of an Idiot, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Fair Maidens: The Feminine Ideal from Nicole Grigorescu to Ion Grigorescu, MARe, Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest, Romania
Trouble in Paradise, Collection Rattan Chadha, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2018
2017
Doing Identity. Die Sammlung Reydan Weiss, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Art Encounters 2017: Life a User’s Manual, Timisoara, Romania
Proof of Life, Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
Beyond the pleasure principle - Affective Operations, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2016
XVI International Vilnius Painting Triennial 'Nomadic Images', Vilnius, Latvia
Mir ist das Leben lieber. Sammlung Reydan Weiss, Weserburg Museum, Bremen, Germany
2015
2014
Transformation. Romanian Art 25 Years After the Revolution, Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, The Netherlands
Defaced: a selection of works by contemporary Romanian painters, BMoCA, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, United States of America
2013
Scènes Roumaines, Espace Louis Vuitton Paris, Paris, France
In Alle Staten, Museum Dr. Guislain, Ghent, Belgium
Sex, Money and Power, Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium
2012
Nightfall: New Tendencies in Figurative Painting, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary
Hybride, Fondation Francès, Senlis, France
European Travellers, Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary
2010
Art Fanatics, Kunsthalle Mücsarnok, Budapest, Romania
2009
Without Hintersinn, 11th Istanbul Biennal, Istanbul, Turkey
Prague Biennale 4, Prague Biennale, Prague, Czech Republic
Seeing is Believing, Birmingham Art Museum, Alabama, United States of America
2008
Under Natural Circumstances - Contemporary Art from Transylvania, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary

Press

“Mircea Suciu: Bleeding Heart”
GalleryViewer, article by Manuela Klerkx (online)
October 2021

“Mircea Suciu Captures the Psychological Undercurrents of Now”
www.ocula.com, article by Tessa Moldan (online)
September 2021

“Mircea Suciu – Besieged by Fear – Romanian artist Mircea Suciu makes portraits of a humanity that is struggling to escape, to break out of confinement, to withstand the burden of worries and guilt”
Guilt Issue, no. 8, article by Tuna Yigit (p.100-111)
Autumn/Winter 2019

“Je ne sais même pas si je fais de la peinture. Mircea Suciu & Ami Barak en conversation”
L’Officiel ART, no.26, article by Ami Barak (p.60-67)
June/August 2018

Mircea Suciu
Books
Mircea Suciu: The Light of Recent Events

Vellant Publishing House
Bucharest, Romania, 2022
88 pages, ISBN 9786069801406

Vellant Publishing House<br />Bucharest, Romania, 2022<br />88 pages, ISBN 9786069801406
Mircea Suciu: Hotel Empathy

Zeno X Books, Hannibal & König Books
London, United Kingdom, 2019
111 pages, ISBN 9783960985884

Zeno X Books, Hannibal & König Books<br />London, United Kingdom, 2019<br />111 pages, ISBN 9783960985884
Mircea Suciu: A Touch of Evil

Jason Haam
Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 2018
69 pages

Jason Haam<br />Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 2018<br />69 pages
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● Mircea Suciu

Books