DAN PERJOVSCHI – Legal and illegal or the other way around

Dan Perjovschi was born in 1961 in Sibiu, Romania. His drawings, comics and graffiti commenting current political, social and cultural events are created directly upon the gallery and museum walls. The artists played an active role in building a citizen society in Romania while collaborating with the “Revista 22” magazine published in Bucharest. He also had a significant influence upon reinforcing a cultural exchange between Romania and international contemporary art scenes. He lives and works in Bucharest. In 2004 Dan Perjovschi was awarded the George Maciunas Award. He has seen his works exhibited all over the world. The most important individual exhibitions include: “rEST”, 48th Venice Biennial, Romanian Pavillion (with SubReal),1999; “Naked Drawings”, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2005; “The Room Drawing”, Tate Modern, London, 2006; “What Happens to US?”, Project 85, MoMA, New York, 2007; “Late News”, Institute for Contemporary Culture, ROM, Toronto, 2010; “Not Over”, MACRO, Rome, 2011.

http://www.perjovschi.ro/

Dan Perjovschi’s artistic creations may be seen as a certain kind of monumental painting, which differs, though, from the traditional understanding of the term, as canvas are substituted by monochromatic gallery walls. The artist covers them with innumerable figurative shapes referring to the problems of culture – both in a narrow sense of artistic culture (including the issues of art market and of artists and their works becoming increasingly more institutional) and in a broader sense of social reality. The character of his works corresponds closely to the primitive convention of a comic book. The author emphasises that his works are visualisations of his thoughts and ideas born from observing the everyday reality. Placed within exhibition space they serve as a certain form of an easily recognisable artist’s logo

The primitivism of the forms acquired by Perjovschi can be understood in the terms proposed by Ernst Gombrich – as the closest element to the human nature. Linearism and sui generis archaism of his works may be associated with cave painting. Dan Perjovschi’s art refers directly to the very fundamental issues of human existence including religion, institutions, society or identity. He talks about them in a simple and uncompromising manner. The visual/verbal comments drawn with black marker pen are accurate, cutting remarks which relentlessly strip the reality of all myths and simulacra. The artist often adds new elements or stories to his exhibition, also when viewers are present in the gallery, giving his art a character of an intervention.

The reality shown by Perjovschi is rotten and corrupt. He deprives us of the delusive masks we tend to wear every day. He achieves that via unconventional methods and delivers maximum amount of essence enclosed within minimalistic form.

Sebastian Kochaniec

translated by Wiktor Kuć