Ana Lupas: Intimate Space—Open Gaze

Experimental, profoundly spiritual and radically humanist—Ana Lupas (b. 1940 in Cluj, Romania) has been an outstanding figure in Eastern European art since the 1960s. With Intimate Space—Open Gaze, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein is presenting the most comprehensive solo show thus far on the artist, featuring works from different periods of her production from the 1960s to the present. One focus is on two series of works being shown for the first time: Eyes (1974–91) and Self-Portrait (2000). Spanning six decades, Ana Lupas’s career is an impressive testimony to her resilience and her indefatigable commitment to art in difficult political circumstances.

In an environment characterised by a lack of freedom and oppression, Lupas created an oeuvre that is as impressive as it is radical, never leaving her Romanian hometown. The communist regime that ruled for over four decades (1945–1989) co-opted art for its dehumanising, totalitarian ideology, massively hindering free experimentation and exhibitions. Nevertheless, Ana Lupas consistently went her own way, undeterred.

Her early, experimental work comprises textile works, sculptures, environments, installations and action art. Often, she uses materials that are easy to procure, such as grain, wool, wax or fabrics, drawing her inspiration from folklore and ancient traditions. From a Western European perspective, similarities can be observed to the avant-garde movements of the late twentieth century, including conceptual art and land art. Although often forced to work in hiding, Ana Lupas managed to realise various large-scale participatory projects with local residents and promote the local artistic community.

The exhibition at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein places the emphasis on two previously unexhibited series: Eyes (1974–91) and Self-Portrait (2000). The sculptural porcelain eyes allude to the climate of surveillance in Romanian society, and in all totalitarian regimes, but can also be viewed beyond this context. In Vaduz, more than twenty eyes focus their gaze on works from the Kunstmuseum’s collection selected by Lupas. Letizia Ragaglia, director and curator of the show, remarked: “Until now, the artist has kept these highly fragile sculptures safe in her studio in Cluj. We are all the more pleased to be the first institution to have the opportunity to present these Eyes to the public at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.”

In the Self-Portrait series, the eyes of the artist herself are trained on the exhibition space and the audience. Depicting a screenprint of Lupas’s portrait, the series consists of 200 posters created in 1998 to promote her exhibition in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Like entries in a diary, Lupas has been modifying and overpainting one of these posters almost every day. The self-portraits not only testify to the artist’s ongoing, almost obsessive dialogue with herself, but also to her will to overcome (state-) imposed standardisation by means of individuality.

The exhibition was developed by Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in close collaboration with the artist and is a co-production with the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Curated by Letizia Ragaglia for Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.

A comprehensive publication, featuring texts by Tanja Boon, Leontine Coelewij, Marina Lupas, Ramona Novicov, Letizia Ragaglia, Christian Rattemeyer, and Mechtild Widrich, accompanies the exhibition.

Ana Lupas (b. 1940 in Cluj, Romania) studied at the Academy of Plastic Arts Ion Andreescu (today: Art and Design University), Cluj. She initiated and directed the entire avant-garde collective Atelier 35 having a lasting influence on the young generation of Romanian artists (1980–89). Deliberately shying away from the limelight of the gallery scene, she always remained deeply rooted in her rural environment. Her oeuvre is being discovered by international audiences and acknowledged by renowned museums such as the Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou Paris; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Museion, Bolzano. She continues to live and work in Cluj, where she lives in the same street where she was born. She is currently focusing on preserving her works and organising her archive.

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