Prietena mea genială / 나의 눈부신 친구 / My Brilliant Friend

Central to this project is the idea of ​​home: people, objects and situations that enter, exit or populate intimate family spaces.

Artists: Irina Botea-Bucan & Jon Dean, Choi Yun, Lena Constante, Jang Pa, kinema ikon, Elena Haschke Marinescu, Nho Wonhee, Ada Pistiner

Curators: Seolhui Lee & Anca Mihuleț

September  19 – October 20, 2024

26 Popa Soare Street, Bucharest

Anca Poterașu Gallery presents an exhibition that revolves around the similar histories of domestic and community life in the two countries; influenced by current processes of social and political restoration, the discussion and research reflects among other things how perceptions of women have been shaped by different intercultural contexts. Featuring artists from different historical periods, the project explores on the one hand systems of representation of women in visual culture, and on the other hand contextualizes narratives and personal histories relevant to the shaping of the idea of family and community in South-East Europe and East Asia.

 

Nho Wonhee’s work is recognized as a visual documentation and remark on society, which visualizes her critical view on the state of affairs and role of art. As a founding member of “Reality and Utterance,” an artist collective of Minjung Art, which emerged in the 1980s in South Korea, she aimed to continue her practice in a close knot with the social context to discover and define art’s position in society. For Nho, paintings are a window to everyday life, a platform where concealed and suppressed events emerge. She presents the images of city and daily life on canvas while constructing her unique language of Realism.

JANG PA Lady-X No. 8, oil on canvas, 72.7 x 50 cm, 2015
JANG PA Grinning Like a Cheshire Cat, oil on canvas, 60.6 x 40.9 cm, 2015.

Jang Pa explores beyond her own individual identity as a female and observer of her surroundings to experiment with inquiries and perspectives on the boundary between male, female, self and others.
Beginning with questions on the possibility of genuine understanding and love for another in the Lady-X series (2015), her works endeavor to break away from the existing perspective on femininity and inspire diverse approaches and attitudes. Jang has recently focused on referencing images in art history to further materialize works, such as in her Flat Hole series (2022).

Irina Botea-Bucan and Jon Dean have been collaborating as an artist-duo working with diverse communities.
Irina Botea-Bucan and Jon Dean have been collaborating as an artist-duo working with diverse communities.
Ada Pistiner, Snapshot Around the Family Table
Ada Pistiner, Snapshot Around the Family Table

In the frames of the exhibition, we are presenting the work of Elena Marinescu: Sky’s Stripes, which alongside Thought’s Stripes and Earth’s Stripes belong to the trilogy dedicated to the traditional Romanian belt, worn by peasants on work days and also during holidays; when talking about Sky’s Stripes, Elena Marinescu described it as a tridimensional spatial work” and not a tapistry, dedicating it to the peasants who need the boon from heaven in their activities.  

A group of young people sitting around a small coffee table drinking beer and listening to a Sanyo radio, laundry hanging in the middle of a room, mirrors and film cameras left unattended in the corners of mysterious spaces, children playing while adults handle serious business – these are just some of the intricate pieces of imagery composed with awareness for a suite of videos produced or centred on the female artists and thinkers part of the collective kinema ikon – Monica Trifu, Marcela Munteanu, Roxana Cherecheș and Liliana Trandabur. On another side, in Valentin Constantin’s film, Gros plan de zi, the central character is the poet Ligia Holuță, who between 1991 and 1992 coordinated Conversația [Conversation], a magazine edited by kinema ikon.

The project Prietena mea genială is co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The content and outcome of the project are the sole responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect the views of AFCN.

Event organized with the support of DACIN SARA.
Partners: Muzeul Național al Taranului Roman, Revista Arta, LG Romania

Exhibition view

You can download the curatorial text below.