The personal exhibition of the sculptor Virgil Scripcariu, entitled ” GRÂU/ WHEAT”, presented in The Institute space at Combinatul Fondului Plastic, can be visited until Wednesday, November 30.
As the title of the exhibition suggests, the artistic concept is built around wheat, a primary symbol of the development of communities and socio-cultural relations, since ancient times.
The presence of wheat symbolizes well-being, prosperity, while its absence triggers tensions and conflicts.
Virgil Scripcariu focused in his visual representation on the conflicting context that this resource can generate. The artist approached this subject through large-scale installations made of ready-mades.
The authentic style in which the sculptor chooses to interpret the idea of wheat, seen as a “metaphor of war” is also linked to the place that shaped his vision from the beginning of his life.
Born in the land of Bucovina, in the commune of Măreția Mică, he was surrounded from an early age by the simplicity and monumentality of mountains and nature. The return to tradition and origins can be felt in his art. Scripcariu introduces in his works a spiritual dimension of both biblical and folkloric nature, whose symbolism is profound.
Virgil Scripcariu (b. 1974, Vatra Dornei) is an important name for Romanian contemporary sculpture. He studied sculpture at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, in the class of Vasile Gorduz, was a Theodor Aman scholarship holder, and a finalist of the Prometheus Opera Prima grand prize, awarded by the Anonymous Foundation. He has important public works in the country and abroad. He participated in numerous exhibitions. In 2008 he exhibited at the Architecture Biennale in Venice, having a major contribution to shaping the concept and scenography of the Romanian Pavilion.
Since 2006, he settled with his family in the village of Piscu, an old village of potters at 40 km from Bucharest. Together with his wife, Adriana Scripcariu, an art historian, he founded the Piscu Museum-Workshop-School, a project for research and valorization of local heritage. The museum houses an impressive collection of ceramics consisting of 1000 objects, the oldest being from the time of the Dacians, a space dedicated to contemporary art and pottery workshops.
The project received the Europa Nostra Award 2022, in the “Education, Training, Craft” section.
