January 8, 2009 - Gallery "Simeza" - one of the oldest and most renowned gallery of Bucharest - hosted the vernissage of the exhibition "Arts in Dialogue", featuring the plastic artists François Felten, painter of Luxembourg and Titi Ceara, sculptor of Romania, at the invitation of Paneuropa Foundation Romania. The opening took place in the presence of the two artists, of a distinguished audience and representatives of the Romanian mass-media. (see Album)
Opening the ceremony, the president of Paneuropa Foundation introduced to the public the two artists, mentioning that we are witnessing in fact a "double debut", achieved by the two artists over the years (a lapse of time in-between of more than ten years).
So, Titi Ceara presents during the exhibition photos of the sculptures in wood made during his first stay in Luxembourg, in 1995, when the Grand-Duchy was, for the first time, "European City of Culture". At that time, Titi Ceara was selected among candidates of several European countries for his particular talent of working the wood and he took part, for two months, at the International Camp of Sculpture organised in open air - in the Parc of Belair, Luxembourg, where he realised an assembly of more than twenty sculptures in wood. The sculptures were placed afterwards, when the work was over, in the parc Belair.
Even if Titi Ceara works with the same easiness in wood, marble or bronze (and he makes also sculptor's drawings of a particular beauty and high artistic values), he prefers and attains the perfection when working the wood, making works from the simplest up to those of a remarkable refinement and skilful caligraphy. His sculptures are inspired by byblical subjects, Romanian popular traditions or from the universal knowledge: Juda's Kiss, Pieta, Spiral of Life, the Big Wheel, the Archer a.s.o.
As for Francois Felten, he is also with a first personal exhibition in Romania, including an important number of paintings of medium and large size, acrylic on canvas.
Francois Felten, one of the most representative painters of contemporary Luxembourg, presented a fascinating and vigorous painting, filled with unusual light and colour. His touches are strong and clear, he has no hesitations to exhibit , with the utmost frankness, his imagination (a borderless one, I would say!), making us both witnesses and partners of a new world, with plenty of misteries and at the same time so familiar to us. Admiring his painting, you couldn't stop the revelation, which is almost a certainty, of an ideatic rapprochement between the artist's vision and the artistic creation and mithology of different regions of Romania. If Francois Felten would tell us tommorow that he comes from Maramures, a province in the North of Romania, you cannot argue against in the presence of an overwhelming abundancy of strange figures and masks; or we shall not be amazed to learn that he is from Moldavia, noticing that number of his works takes colours and forms of the last judgement fire where those who passed away are purified before coming back, in a resurrection together with Landlord's son. It is there a kind of recapture, over distances and ages, of twin images, which nurture the thought of the unique source of our passage through the world, a source to which we shall revert eventually, to conclude a cycle there, where a new cycle will be born.
For Francois Felten, as he confesses himself, "painting is his real life". Even if he accomplished studies of philosophy (Brussels) and theology (Innsbruck) and followed a theological career, he made also studies of painting (Brussels) and drawing (Luxembourg), which helped him in his desire of painting with relentless and permanent inspiration and force since childhood.
We cannot conclude without quoting the authorised opinion of Mariana Wathelet, art critic in Luxembourg, who followed closely the evolution of the Luxembourger artist and noted with a deep inspiration: "anonimous, as if the lack of titles could give them a new promise of freedom, his works are focusing the attention over the content ... his canvas are populated by vibration of plants, animals, people and imaginary birds, similar to those known by us from the childhood or from the most foolish dreams ... vigorous up to violence, gentle up to innocence, picturesque and amazing, the paintbrush of Francois Felten deepens into a common universe, where we, the public, we are paradoxically present only because the artist invites us with all our expectations and histories, with all our hopes, pleasures and loves".
The exhibition remains open till 22 January 2009.
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