Mircea Modreanu, Ilina Schileru, Lucian Sandu Milea, and Răzvan Năstase, artists from the independent collective E T A J artist-run space, exhibit at the Durden and Ray Gallery in Los Angeles, alongside gallery artists Carlos Beltran Arechiga, Ben Jackel, Lana Duong, Steven Wolkoff.

The group exhibition, entitled “iMigrate. The Biology of Transition,” opened Saturday, August 12, at the Durden and Ray Gallery in Los Angeles.

The four Romanian artists went on a road residency to America at the beginning of August. Imagined under the concept of light-travel art, the journey performance materialized in the group exhibition “iMigrate. The Biology of Transition”, which brings together multiple perspectives on migration.

The flight, the most stressful step into the unknown for those who have left home, therefore also for this residence, becomes an essential stage of creation. The Bucharest – Los Angeles route is an ideal observation frame that highlights the specifics of the places the four Romanian artists cross.

Following in the footsteps of the new American Dreamers, the four novice travelers examine, from an artistic perspective, the clues that might herald new meanings of the old story, from the promise of material success or social mobility to contemporary nuances such as unique community ideals or the freedom to choose your way of life.

The project “iMigrate. The Biology of Transition” aims to promote Romanian culture internationally, exchange experience, and strengthen relations between domestic and overseas cultural operators. Part of the themes and resources included in the project will bear national cultural references, be it cinema, visual arts, or music – ancient or contemporary.
The exhibition in Los Angeles could be the occasion for many American artists and visitors to have first contact with cultural fragments of Romanian origin, treated experimentally.

The exhibition can be visited until September 5.

About the artists

Mircea Modreanu is a visual artist, cultural project manager, and gallerist. He attended the courses of the Faculty of Fine Arts at UAD Cluj, and immediately after completing his degree, he reconfigured his route to Bucharest. In 2014 he completed his master’s degree at UNArte’s graphics department, and a year later, he founded an NGO, representing his debut as a manager of cultural projects.

Since the E T A J artist-run space project was born in 2018, Mircea has organized exhibitions in Bucharest at 43 George Enescu Street, where he has invited over 200 artists. In the lockdown, as a form of documentation and archiving, he started filming interviews with the artists he uploaded to the YouTube channel ETAJ TV; he is the coordinator of E T A J Magazine, a publication launched out of the desire to promote contemporary art and local artists

Ilina Schileru graduated from the Graphics department with a master’s degree from the University of Arts in Bucharest in 2010. In 2022 she was the curator of the collateral event for the Roma representation at the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, organized by ERIAC (European Institute for Roma Art and Culture). Member of UAP Romania and founder of the EBienale (in association with the George Enescu Festival and Competition), Ilina Schileru is currently the coordinator of the independent space MNTRplusC, a contemporary art program under the auspices of the National Museum of the Peasant, starting from April 2021.

The MNTRplusC program relies on international collaborations between the local Romanian scene and foreign or diaspora artists/curators. Since 2018, she has collaborated with NGOs to integrate immigrant and refugee children through art programs she develops in partnership with museums and other institutes (Museum of Recent Art, MNAR, British Council, etc.). She is part of the ETAJ artist-run space team with which she exhibited at five art fairs in Europe (Milan, Stockholm, Madrid, Budapest, Aarhus), and in 2023, she will complete a project with the Durden and Ray Gallery in Los Angeles. She writes for ARTA Magazine, Propagarta (Romania), and No Niin (Helsinki, Finland). She lives and works in Bucharest.

Lucian Sandu-Milea (b. 1986, Sînnicolau-Mare) is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at UAUIM. He works as an artist (street art, illustrator, and 3D graphic designer), architect, and organizer of cultural events. He is a founding member of the Carol 53 project.

Răzvan Năstase (b. 1991) is a National University of Arts graduate in Bucharest, Painting department. Currently, he lives and works in Bucharest. He participated in numerous national and international exhibitions in 2014, obtaining the first prize in the Sofia “International Student Biennale – Drawing.”
Răzvan explores in his art the dialogue between the three primary elements of the two-dimensional image: color, composition, and texture. The realm in which the artist manifests is that of purely abstract forms. His approach is essentially minimalist, rooted in his quest to understand pure aesthetic thought concerning the art object. The motivation that animates the artist is intrinsic to the artistic act, and spontaneity determines the physical form that soul and mental phenomena receive.

Recently, Răzvan Năstase formulated a calculated, technical discourse that summarizes the research of light art and laser phenomena. He is interested in how light can lead spaces into infinite ways of metamorphosis.

Team: Ioana Bogdan (project manager) | Evantia Barca (PR and communication) | Gabriela Ferche (financial manager) | Ilina Schileru (visual artist, curator, graphic design) | Mircea Modreanu, Lucian Sandu Milea, Răzvan Năstase (visual artists)
Durden and Ray Gallery: Carlos Bertrand Arciega, Ben Jackel, Lana Duong, Daniela Soberman, Steven Wolkoff (artists).

“iMigrate. The Biology of Transition” is a project co-financed by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the CANTEMIR Program – a funding program for cultural projects intended for the international environment.

Project organized by SCHILERS HOUSE, in partnership with E T A J artist-run space, D3M Association, and Durden and Ray Gallery Los Angeles.

Media partners: Empower Artists Magazine, Propagarta, Vice, Spotmedia, IQAds, SMARK, Revista Zeppelin, Revista Arta, Radio Romania Cultural, Modernism.ro, Zile și Nopți, Daily Magazine, Ziarul Metropolis, Feeder, DigitizArte, Munteanu, Igloo, HAPP, F64, Radio România International, The Institute, TANANANA, Curatorial.ro., ArTeVezi, Agenția de Carte, Radio Guerrilla, Ochiul de Veghe, Revista Timpul, The Woman