2018 exhibition season 

One Monument Later
April 26–September 20, 2018
Artists: Constantin Brâncuși, Dan Er. Grigorescu
Curator: Călin Dan
Assistant curator: Sandra Demetrescu
Exhibition design: skaarchitects
With the support of: Galerie Negropontes Paris / Ariana & Sophie Negropontes, Sorana Georgescu-Gorjan

In 1982, Constantin Brâncuși was present at the Venice Biennale in a section of the International Pavilion curated by Dan Hăulică, then president of AICA. Central to the installation was a three-dimensional monumental photographic re-enactment of the world famous sculptural ensemble from Târgu Jiu, signed by Dan Er. Grigorescu, an artist with a strong vision about how to capture the deceptively simple forms of Brâncuși’s works. Dan Er. Grigorescu is the son of general Eremia Grigorescu, who defeated field marshal von Mackensen in a memorable battle that turned around the fate of WWI in Romania.The monumental ensemble from Târgu Jiu, inaugurated in 1938, was conceived as a memorial to the battles between the Romanian and German troops that took place around the city and on the Jiu river in 1916. MNAC is presenting a re-enactment of the Grigorescu-Hăulică Venice re-enactment, together with other images and documents meant to illustrate this historical chain of events connecting politics and war with technology and culture, from 1916 until today. The exhibition is a celebration of both the monument and of the photographer who envisioned a nomad version of the previous.

The Prisoners of the Avant-Garde. A Ion Bitzan Retrospective
November 23, 2017–May 27, 2018
Curator: Călin Dan
Assistant curator: Sandra Demetrescu
Exhibition design: skaarchitects
Graphic design: Bogdan Ceaușescu
Research assistants: Magda Predescu, Cristina Cojocaru
With the support of: Ion Bitzan Foundation

Ion Bitzan (1924–97) belongs to a Romanian generation of great talents, manifest in the brief period of détente between 1962-1974 approximately, who developed a body of work that can be ascribed to international conceptualism and minimalism. His career was highlighted by participations to the most important international Biennales of the time, and his works are in the collection of prestigious institutions like the MoMA, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In contrast to other colleagues who later either emigrated, or isolated themselves from the ever more aggressive political context, Ion Bitzan devised a different strategy—original and at the same time risky. Parallel to his research into the history of international experimental art (which resulted in an impressive number of works), Bitzan also produced works commissioned by and dedicated to the Communist Party and its leader. Looking at the oeuvre of Ion Bitzan, the exhibition tries to shed light on a period full of nuances and shadows, when artistic innovation and political art co-existed in a complicated relation.

Closed Doors, Open Envelopes. Iosif Király – Early Works, 1975–2000
April 26–September 30, 2018
Artist: Iosif Király
Curator: Ruxandra Demetrescu
MNAC Coordinator: Alexandru Oberländer-Târnoveanu
Exhibition design: atelier ad hoc

The exhibition Closed Doors, Open Envelopes. Iosif Király – Early Works, 1975–2000 proposes the presentation of the early artistic activity of Iosif Király under the sign of recovery and critical revision. According to the artist’s testimony, the title refers to the fact that most of the actions and works presented in this exhibition happened not in public spaces, but in private ones, behind closed doors or in any case without spectators. The great majority of the works were not exhibited at that time, since, back then, they were assumed and intended for an audience from another place or time. However, the envelopes—a tangible testimony of mail-art—represented an opening to the “true” world that the artist could only imagine and which he knew only indirectly. At the same time, towards the end of the 1980s, envelopes began to be tracked by the State Security (Securitate), they were opened and/or stopped off their way before reaching the recipient. This is why mail-art is a significant landmark, an important pole of the exhibition, presented in a distinctive space. There are exhibited photographs, drawings and objects that are made in a chronological range which fits into recent history: the 1970s and 1980s (with some significant extensions in the first half of the last decade of the last century).

Couterpoint. An Octav Grigorescu – Georgeta Năpăruș​ Retrospective
April 26–September 30, 2018
Curators: Ioana Vlasiu, Magda Predescu
Exhibition design: skaarchitects
With the support of: Ion, Olga and Ilie Grigorescu, Plan B Foundation Cluj

The aim of this exhibition is to introduce the artist couple Octav Grigorescu and Georgeta Năpăruș, both of them strong personalities and unique artists, whose works were at the forefront of Romanian art from the 1970s to the 1990s. The exhibition follows the different phases of their original artistic trajectories which, although different in essence, have often converged and crossed paths. Parallel to bringing these two artists back into the spotlight, the exhibition reveals the underlying tensions and contradictions of the communist era, emphasizing the fraught relationship between freedom and restriction that marked so many personal destinies. In selecting the works to be displayed, we considered major works from Romanian museums and the family collection, as well as a considerable number of works from Italian and German private collections, made available to the Romanian public for the first time.

Eva and Emerick
April 26–June 24, 2018
Artist: Yael Efrati
Curator: Nicola Trezzi
MNAC Coordinator: Ioana Mandeal
Partners: The Embassy of Israel in Romania
With the support of: Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts, The Artis Grant Program

Yael Efrati is one of the most interesting voices in the Israeli contemporary art landscape. Defined by the artist as “documentary sculptures” her works employ three-dimensional codes and at the same time conceptually refer to—and always start from—the photographic image. As such the works are always stemming from reality, from the existing; they are neither fictional nor the personal expression of an inner artistic voice.

Eva and Emerick is her most comprehensive solo exhibition to date and it includes both existing and new pieces specially produced for this occasion. Continuing her interest in time and memory the new works are connected to previous works in an attempt to redefine the specific and general context in which they were created. The main base of the presentation stems from Eye of the Sea, a 5-piece installation focused on the artist’s grandparents’ apartment in Haifa (Israel) and its architectural characteristics. Since they grew up and met in Bucharest, some of the works in this exhibition also relate to the city expanding the aforementioned narrative towards its urban setting and architecture.

Sponsors: Crama Oprișor, Policolor, Grup Transilvae.