Art Exhibitions, Experiences

“The Impenetrable Opening”. Exhibition Ioan Sbârciu at Brukenthal National Museum

“The Impenetrable Open”, Ioan Sbârciu’s exhibition, curated by Alessandro Possati and Alexandru Constantin Chituță and organized in collaboration with Zuecca Projects (Venice, Italy), opened at the Brukenthal National Museum during Sibiu International Theater Festival (FITS) on Friday, June 21, 2024.

The exhibition celebrates Ioan Sbârciu’s profound influence on Romania’s artistic landscape. It presents his extensive portfolio of works inside one of the country’s oldest museums, Brukenthal National Museum, with artworks by Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Jacob Jordaens, Lucas Cranach, Pieter Brueghel, Lorenzo Lotto and Titian.

Ioan Sbârciu is one of Romania’s most important painters, renowned for his monumental works and the transformative impact on the artistic education system of our country during his tenure as professor and rector at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca. His large-scale paintings highlight his artistic achievements, including 4×6 meters works currently on display in Venice at Squero Castello as part of the Venice Art Biennale 2024 and the impressive 5×30 meters painting on display at the Museum National Contemporary Art Festival from Bucharest during 2019-2020.

Deeply connected to the context of his nation, Sbârciu’s career stretches from his academic contributions to his activism against deforestation in Transylvania in the 1990s. This exhibition presents a curated selection of paintings from various series, including “Don Quixote”, “The Ash Forest” and “Lights of Transylvania”. The “Cinder Forest” series reflects Sbârciu’s response to the forest that disappeared due to deforestation, with ash from burned trees used in the pigments of the works. The “Transylvanian Lights” series, inspired by his childhood memories and relationship with nature, recreates interior landscapes where memories overlap like brushes and colors on his canvases.

The exhibition can be visited until July 30, 2024.

Ioan Sbârciu (born in 1948, Feldru) lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He graduated from the Painting Department of “Ion Andreescu” University in 1973 and supported various teaching activities before starting his academic career in 1990 at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca (UAD), where he successively held the positions of head of the Painting Department, dean, rector, and president of the University Senate.

Sbârciu’s work has been the subject of numerous personal exhibitions and projects, including Zuecca Projects, Venice (2024); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (2019); BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium (2019); Sant’Antonio Abate, Matera, Italy (2019); Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2019); Eurojust, The Hague, Netherlands (2019); Cluj Art Museum (2018); Romanian Cultural Institute for Humanistic Research, Venice, Italy (2018); Sector 1 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2018); Fondazione Mena, Rome, Italy (2017); Hugo Voeten Art Center, Herentals, Belgium (2015); Accademia di Romania, Rome, Italy (2015); Tarohei Nakagawa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2010); Kunsthalle Koeln, Germany (2003); Dresdner Bank Gallery, Stuttgart; Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany (2001).