The Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna presents between March 24 and April 30, 2023 the exhibition MEMENTO VIVERE, a visual poem by the Romanian artist Claudiu Ciobanu dedicated to man and the intensity of living, in a world occupied by technology. Through an explosion of extremely well-calibrated color, the artist punctuates those themes that concern us all today more than ever: how connected we are with ourselves, with nature, with immediate life and how subjugated we remain to technology, which simplifies up to total disconnection.

The opening of the MEMENTO VIVERE exhibition takes place on Friday, March 24, from 7 p.m., in the presence of the artist Claudiu Ciobanu and the curator Cristiana Ursache, at the ICR headquarters in Vienna.

“But posthumanism has crossed the boundaries of philosophy and is increasingly found in the visual arts in critical, utopian, provocative or imaginative situations. Contemporary art uses text-based elements to critique how technology has changed the way we communicate and access information. Artists refer to technology as a way to change thinking and information processing and its impact on our abilities to understand the world around us.
Claudiu Ciobanu transforms the idea of ​​communication from text to gesture and this is reflected in the only work with two characters in the exhibition – mother and daughter. Through the simple gesture of a motherly hug, the artist encompasses a deep ancestral communication that can never be replaced by technology. Communication through touch and through the experience of being close to the other is what makes you want to live, to remember to feel – Memento vivere,” explains the curator of the exhibition, Cristiana Ursache.

In Claudiu Ciobanu’s painting, the characters sometimes seem isolated and unconnected to the world around them. But beyond appearances, the works bring up deep themes about the inner world of contemporary man and his relationship with nature. The artist’s recent concerns question certain aspects of contemporary society and our relationships with the inner world and nature. The theme addressed invites us to reflect on our own relationships with the inner world and nature, and to ask ourselves if we are focusing too much on technology and materialism and if we are thus losing touch with what is essential.

“As Homo Sapiens becomes Homo Deus, what new destinies will we establish? What made gods will we face, what projects will we accomplish, and how will we protect this fragile planet and humanity itself from our own destructive powers? Is posthumanism a reality or is it just a concept invented to frame a historical period?”, reflects the artist Claudiu Ciobanu on this topic.

The exhibition project is initiated by the Artep Gallery and proposed by the Romanian Cultural Institute to the Viennese public as a reflection of an immediate, possible, even probable future.

Claudiu Ciobanu is part of the young generation of artists from Iasi, being a graduate of the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, “George Enescu” National University of Art in Iasi. He studied painting through the Erasmus program at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, where he discovered experimental painting and drawing techniques. The studies in Spain were completed with a drawing exhibition project that was later selected in 2009 for the Young Romanian Art 10 exhibition, “Slightly bored”, curated by Mircea Nicolae at Galeria Nouă, Romanian Cultural Institute in Venice. He participated in various national and international projects, being present in exhibitions in Israel, Washington, Berlin, and Vienna.
Claudiu Ciobanu, born in 1984, lives and works in Iasi.

Since 2018, the Artep Gallery is presenting to the citizens of Iasi the most popular Romanian visual artists, in painting, sculpture, and photography installations coordinated by passionate curators, installations correlated with the author’s film, research, and a convergent approach to the field. Artep Gallery has proposed to the Iași public an impressive series of visual artists, such as Felix Aftene (2018, 2020) Ștefan Câltia (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), Virgil Scripcariu (2019), Mark Verlan and Ghenadie Popescu (2020), Matei Bejenaru (2021), Nicu Ilfoveanu (2021), Claudiu Ciobanu (2022), Miruna Radovici (2022), Sorin Ilfoveanu (2022/2023).