A new edition of Volta Basel takes place this year from June 13-19. Founded in 2005, Volta Basel is an important art fair that focuses on the artist and his work, promoting direct interaction between galleries, artists, and art lovers. Volta Basel 2022 presents a strong international portfolio that captures current trends in contemporary art. The 17th edition of the Volta Basel Art Fair brings together 66 galleries from 25 countries including Romania.
Romania is present at Volta Basel with the exhibition “Ropes in torsades”, a solo show by the artist Mihai Țopescu, curated by Raluca Băloiu.
“Twisted ropes are knotted and set on pedestals (bronze sculptures) or suspended (charcoal on canvas works). Under the symbol of the ROPE and KNOT, MIHAI ŢOPESCU chose to develop a whole art show for VOLTA BASEL. His compositions bring into focus the Romanian identity elements.
At Volta Basel, Mihai Ţopescu rebuilds a Romanian pavilion with identity roots bringing in his work decorative motifs from the traditional art as the torsade rope and the knot – both motifs also found in universal art. Let’s consider that from ancient times the rope was used on construction sites as a working tool. In Antiquity, the Egyptians used the rope with twelve equidistant knots in order to create the right angle. At a symbolic level, the rope is a spiral that stands for the aspiration toward heights while the knots have magical meaning. The knotted rope merges the heavenly space and time with the terrestrial space and time. With the help of the knotted rope, the heavenly order is restored on Earth.” (Raluca Băloiu, curator and art critic)
MIHAI ŢOPESCU is a graduate of the “Ion Andreescu” Institute of Fine Arts in Cluj, glass department. He is a member of the Union of Fine Artists in Romania, and since 2000 he is a member of the Centro Studio-Vetro Murano in Venice.
For more than three decades, Mihai Țopescu made glass sculptures, passing his works through the incandescence of the furnace. Starting in 2014, Mihai Țopescu switches from aesthetics to social, trying to draw attention to consumerism’s impact on the environment through a series of in situ sculptures and land art.
Mihai Ţopescu enjoys impressive international exposure. He has participated in group and personal exhibitions in Denmark (Ebeltoft), Czech Republic (Novy-Bor), Japan (Kanazawa), Belgium (Brussels), Germany (Cologne), and Netherlands (Tubbergen), Italy (Venice). He lives and works in Târgu Jiu (Gorj county, Romania).
RALUCA BĂLOIU is a curator and art historian, who lives and works in Bucharest. She graduated from the Faculty of Art History and Theory, University of Arts Bucharest. She is a member of the Union of Fine Artists in Romania, Critics Department.
She curated exhibitions and wrote specialized texts for cultural institutions such as the Cotroceni National Museum, the Art Museum of Constanta, the Brâncoveanu Palaces Cultural Center at the Gates of Bucharest, and for art galleries such as AnnArt, Galateea, Senso, and Carol Galleries. Currently, Raluca Băloiu is in charge of managing and curating independent projects.
The participation of the artist Mihai Țopescu in the VOLTA Basel 2022 Contemporary Art Fair is supported by ICR (Romanian Cultural Institute).
More details about the event and exhibitors can be found on the Volta Basel platform: https://www.voltaartfairs.com/basel/exhibitors-2022
