MATHIAS BAR. Almost night, almost light

The contemporary art gallery META Spațiu presents the painting exhibition of artist Mathias Bar, 𝐴𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. This marks the artist’s first solo exhibition at META Spațiu, following his participation in two group exhibitions in 2022 and 2023.

Mathias Bar’s artistic practice revolves around the sustainable vitality of the human form in painting. Employing a stylistic approach that transcends historical boundaries, Bar meticulously constructs ample compositions outlined with luminous strokes. His works often reveal scenes suspended in the fluidity of time: ethereal characters navigating through surreal landscapes, mythical creatures, and intricate dynamics between human and animal figures, fostering a sense of connection and introspection rather than evoking fear or intimidation. His surrealist and symbolic narratives trigger a multitude of thoughts absorbed in the multiple dimensions of human existence, with a particular emphasis on our emotional connections, survival mechanisms, fears, and self-identity.

Combining gestural elements with poetic nuances, Bar’s distinctive practice seamlessly blends anachronistic impulses, resulting in artworks that possess an irreducible vitality. Infusing traditional figurative painting with a contemporary interplay of form and color, Bar revitalizes surreal landscapes. These compositions resonate within the contemporary Romanian figurative art scene, emanating a unique quality of intimacy. The pictorial substance, whether emphasized through clear chiaroscuro or chromatic contrast, is employed in the service of representing bodily details that evoke the tragic in a subtle and subversive manner.

MATHIAS BAR born in 1997 in Cluj-Napoca, where he currently lives and works, graduated with a master’s degree in painting from the University of Arts in Cluj Napoca in 2021. He is currently a doctoral candidate, with his practice extending across various mediums: painting, graphics, installation. Mathias Bar experiments with the image of the human body both formally and expressively, exploring different identity stances.

Selected exhibitions: solo exhibitions – “No Story has a Happy Ending, Unless You Stop Telling it Before it’s Over,” artistic residency and performance duo with Ada Muntean, Fantom Project Space Berlin 2023, duo performance “Anatomy of a Tragedy” with Ada Muntean in 2022; “Venom” at Galeria Mobius, Bucharest 2021; “Dot Fever. Future Memories,” duo show with Ada Muntean in 2017; group exhibitions – “Perspectiva Cluj. Traiettorie dinamiche,” Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome 2023, “Towards a Shared Vision,” Centrul de Interes Cluj, 2023, “Threat to The Eye,” Indecis Artist Run Space Timisoara 2023, “Hiding in Plain Sight,” Biju Gallery Cluj 2023, “GAME ON,” META Spațiu 2023, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” META Spatiu Timisoara 2022, “Studii pentru un hangar de tacere arzatoare F,” Alba-Iulia 2022; “Negotiating Reality,” artist-led space ETAJ Bucharest 2021; “Shared Uncertainties,” open studio, Centrul de Interes Cluj-2021; “Private Fears,” Was Biennale (Worldwide Apartment and Studio Biennale) Cluj-Napoca.

The exhibition can be visited until April 21, 2024. Free entrance.

Share on facebook
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
Share on pinterest

Do you love our content and value the work we do? Support it! Donate!

empower-long-logo-final2

Discover the contemporary art scene in Romania!

Sign up to receive Empower Art& Artists’ monthly art news update!