TexpoART

Contemporary arts bring up, more than never, the diversity of styles, materials, approaches, in a relaxed and permissive lack of regulations. These include textile arts, which overcame the stage of mere handicrafts a long time ago through the reconsideration of the aspects that belong to the craft, always subject to the authors’ personal invention, as well as through the thematic art, synchronized with the current artistic trends. Initiated in 1999 as a biennial manifestation, “Texpoart” project evolved naturally along four editions. Nowadays, in 2008, ist first international edition, the intention is to align on cymas those creations that artists in the field of textiles consider most representative for the current stage, without restrictions regarding the topic, materials or transposition techniques. An important point made by organizers is not to give awards, which would lead to false hierarchizations and unjust comparisons, taking into account the multitude of subjects and techniques. Thus we will enjoy the exhibition in Ias¸i – an old Romanian culture center – of the works of artists from the most important cities of the country and from other 12 countries: France, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, China, Japan, Peru.The exhibition includes the works of 66 artists – each with one representative work – exhibited in “Cupola” and “Nicolae Tonitza” art galleries, of the Union of Plastic Artists of Ias¸i, impressing by their vigor, fantasy, diversity. The chromatic exuberance equals only the ingenuity of the achievement techniques, which go from the classic hypostases of the “haute-lisse” tissue, to collages, nonconventional paste-cups and inedited objects, having as a common feature the existence of the textile element.

A remarkable presence is that of the patchwork and quilt techniques – from the so-called “popular” area of the utilitarian objects –, risen to the degree of art through vision and chromatics.From a general view, a series of trends can be distinguished as being common to all creators, from Romania and abroad, as the effects of the internationalization of information are extremely obvious in visual arts as a synchronization of the post-modern language. Among these trends we mention the following: the mélange of techniques, combined with personal inventions and courageous-non-conformist interventions; the ecological and spiritual topics are filtered from perspectives closer to abstract and less explicit; the taunting irony towards the contemporary society, visible especially if the author’s biography is correlated with the presented work.

Furthermore, the preoccupation for the expression determines the attenuation up to the disappearance of the ethnic print, thus only some of the chromatic combinations or artisticcraft elements still attest the existence of a folkloric delf. This is how the heart imagined by the Swiss artist living in China, Annellies Slabbynck, has an echo in the impressions drafted by the Japanese creator completing her studies in Italy (Mami Kawai).

Another element that seems to take shape more and more firmly is the fastness of achievement, which was until now considered incompatible with the spirit of the textile arts, which have always been associated to the idea of elaborateness and long transposition. Hence, besides the classic “haute-lisse” tapestry, achieved brilliantly especially by the representativesof the old generation (I. Deac-Bistrit¸a, Vintila˘ Miha˘escu, Rodica Banciu, Camelia Ta˘nase- Romania), there arise bolder and bolder collage formulas, sometimes of recycled materials (Maria-Teresa Sansotta – Italy, inedited ceramic-textile fiber combinations (Ozcan Uzkur – Turkey) or even paper with thread insertions (Ceren Ozpinar – Turkey).

The quilt, successfully practiced in the West, starts, alongside patchwork, to be reassessed artistically and in professional exhibitions in Romania. On this line, speechful examples are the works signed by Mirjam Pet Jacobs (The Netherlands), Smaranda Bourgery and Arlette Martin Feysel (France), Eszter Mezone Implom (Hungary), Adina Popescu, Elena Chipara˘ and Clara Tudoran (Romania), and the seven artists from the Czech Republic (Renata Stehlinova, Renata Bazantova, Jana Sterbova etc.)The embroidery appears generally combined with other methods of textile expression, such as felt collages (Nathalie Locquen – France), relieves (Ecaterina Mărghidan – Romania) or overlapped on an already woven surface (Máximo Laura – Peru). The printing effects with graphic results (Daniela Frumuşeanu – Romania), together with manually produced felt or pictorial – diaphanous irizations (Jarka Prasek – Italy) are not neglected either.

The passage from the parietal to threedimensional seems natural in contemporary artistic textiles that exhibit their volumetric potential through inedited formulas. So, for instance, the textile may become rough, telluric (Renata Jackowiak – Poland) or, on the contrary, diaphanous – spiritualized in Ursula Gerber Senger (Switzerland), it may contain symbolic figures (Cristina Hîrlescu – Romania) or elegant styling of musical instruments (Cornelia Brustureanu -  Romania).The capacity of artistic textiles of metamorphosis and of transmitting symbols is explored to the maximum by their creators.

The human figure is sometimes explicitly represented in the pop-up spirit (Ulrika Mokdad – Denmark), other times styled and repeated modularly (Nicolae Zâmbroianu – Romania). The sacredness signs are architectonically suggested (Miruna Has¸egan – Romania) or composed in monumental allegories (Gheorghe Gogescu). Dense textures (Zoit¸a Cra˘ciun – Romania), fluffy textures (Viorica Pastuch – Romania) and diaphanous transparences (Otilia Boeru, Claudia Mus¸at – Romania) lay beside delicate pseudo-robes, making reference to the childhood universe (Viorica Sla˘descu – Romania).

The lyric, the ludic, the symbolic, the irony, the core of philosophical meditations – all are to be found in the textile metaphors exhibited in “Texpoart”. The stylistic syntheses focus on the transgression of raw materials – wool, leather, silk, paper, synthetic fibers, wood – being subject to a certain concept. The versatility of materials and their infinite combinative capacity are hand in hand with the plastic expression potential; consequently this is the reason for the impossibility of analyzing a textile art work from compositional and chromatic point of view, overlooking the achievement techniques. In this dynamic and varied stylistic register, Romanian artists synchronize with the general trends and experience new expression formulas in textile arts. The latest generations of graduates of the art universities in Romania bring a fresh wind, more disinhibited and inventive, attributing new valences to textiles. The infinite hypostases of artistic textiles originate from the ludic spirit of the man who finds in the fibers those primordial energies, capable of expressing thoughts and feelings. Filtered through the creator’s personality, ennobled by the craft mystery and the splendor of materials, the textile art works presented in “Texpoart” Triennium prove artistic professionalism and maturity, beyond the originality of stylistic recipes. Thus, this event, remarkably ample, varied and high quality, becomes a reference point for the evolution of this type of manifestations organized in Romania.

Quelle: Ausstellungskatlog
© Miruna Hasegan
Curator of “Texpoart” Member of the Jury