Galeria Arsenal Notebook

Galeria Arsenal Notebook comprises Dan Perjovschi’s notebook and a series of his drawings from his solo exhibition at the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok (Legal and Illegal or the Other Way Around, 2012). The Romanian artist stresses that his every project begins in the “private little space” of a notebook. Thus, a notebook seems to be a key element that allows us a glimpse of his manner of thinking and his work method. Drawings made therein are later repeated – in a much greater scale and better finished in terms of form and message – directly on the gallery walls.

Perjovschi is an adept draughtsman and a keen observer of the surrounding reality. His works are spare in form, made in a swift, slightly untidy line; their message is, characteristically, condensed to the utmost. Many of them are accompanied by inscriptions resembling brief notes or spray-on slogans seen in urban spaces. In fact, their inspiration may be sought in the works of graffiti artists, the culture of sticker messages, comics and motifs used by urban alternative movements. Perjovschi’s visual-cum-verbal comments are tinged with irony and sarcasm, and their aptness results from the artist’s distance towards reality.

Perjovschi looks at the international politics, economic relations within the European Union, and the identity-building process in post-communist Romania with a critical eye. His Galeria Arsenal Notebook contains references to wars and terrorist attacks, as well as to human mentality and to enforced social conventions. The local context is crucial to him; hence so many of his drawings refer to Białystok realities. The brief phrase: “Bialystok One Arsenal Many Churches” may be read as a comment on the identity of a city which both actually and symbolically contains more churches than art galleries; a city which proudly proclaims its multi-cultural and multi-denominational character but is dominated by pro-Catholic political parties. In addition, the artist plays on the word “ARSENAL”, a name of the gallery, but also a synonym to the term armoury. By embracing reality on a global scale, Perjovschi is able to grasp the specific character of a territory that is new to him. He presents it in sharp relief and occasionally mocks it, while a newcomer’s perspective allows him to show the city in a surprising and revealing manner.

Izabela Kopania

translated from Polish by Klaudyna Michałowicz