Curator: Antigona Silvia Rogozea

Alina Cioara’s exhibition (born in Timișoara 1980, lives and works in Timișoara / Bucharest) is a continuation of the artist’s practice in the phenomenology of the image and word. The paradigm in which the artist operates is situated at the border between visual-conceptual and neuroscience, through the interpretation of language, both word and image, in the decryption and (re)formulation of reality.

The artistic approach is, as in the case of previous exhibitions, complex and brings together various distinct stages of artistic creation, continuing organically previous projects in an immersive storytelling: the introduction of the exhibition consists of a net art work made in 2006, but not presented publicly, an email with the text Meet me beyond … sent as an electronic invitation, accompanied by a painting with Braille macro dots with the text visual art, as an attached document. Thus, the meeting takes place beyond visual.

The content of the exhibition contains the chapters ROBUST WORDS, FRAGILE WORDS and UNUTTERED WORDS, which propose personal themes in an interdisciplinary stylization, with transgressions in individual psychology. As a specificity, the artistic approach is also addressed to people with visual impairments, a continuous concern in Alina Cioara’s artistic practice. ROBUST WORDS are those that shape our consciousness, they are part of a field, the first exhibition chapter illustrating the concept through two large canvases: DARK and LIGHT. The second chapter, FRAGILE WORDS, presents an installation of round, mobile canvases that form the word POWER. The suspension refers to the paradox and to the context in which the word can manifest its meaning or, on the contrary, antitheism. The third chapter, UNUTTERED WORDS, an installation of ten works with Braille macro dots, refers to words that fail to take shape and remain at the level of potency. Not coincidentally, these are printed on Arche paper, referring to the Aristotelian archē, the words principle, intangible, which are left to chance.

The ending of the exhibition is achieved through an interactive installation located on the floor: black Braille macro dots that make up the word FEAR, encouraging visitors to make a gesture, not to avoid stepping on FEAR.

After her interventions at the Galerie de l’Esplanade in Metz and Center Pompidou in Paris (2006-2007), as well as the Nevermore exhibition, in the space of the Triade Foundation within Art Encounters 2017 or Art is a Blood Donor from Galateca Gallery in Bucharest in 2018 or Migrations. HOMO VIATOR from the Timișoara Art Museum from June 021, Alina brings tactile aesthetics to the forefront this time as well, by introducing works and installations from Braille macro dots, but also tactile paths. Alina overflows with a sharp sensitivity, but this is exactly what makes her approachable in the dialogue with her audience, no work is left without a continuous dialogue with the visitors, who become part of the exhibition. Thus, the artist opts again for a positioning of the installations at the level of the addressable public, causing a safe meeting between art and the public.

The event is large and includes, along with the exhibition project, a meeting of the public with the artist Alina Cioara, proposed by Antigona Silvia Rogozea, curator of the exhibition, on 01.10.2021, 12:00.

Continuing the course of her research, Alina will organize on 01.10.2021, at 10:00, an educational workshop with free admission, dedicated to all children and with the participation of children and people with visual impairments, workshop conducted in partnership with the Special Theoretical High School ” Iris ”, Timișoara. The educational actions within the project will be carried out in agreement and communication with Mr. John M. Kennedy, Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto, author of the book “Drawing and the Blind”, with which the artist maintains a constant professional correspondence.

Alina Cioara studied Art, Psycho-Sociology and Communication in Timișoara, continuing her studies at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art in Metz and participating in 2007 in a research and creation project at the Center Pompidou in Paris. She exhibited photography, engraving and installations at the Galerie de l’Esplanade in Metz (2006-2007); Espace mémoire, traveling project France, Belgium, Germany (2007); Double Face, Esplanade Gallery, Metz (2007); Jean & Mar, performance, Galerie de l’Esplanade, Metz (2007); Mondographie, installation, performance and intervention in the work of Nam June Paik, Zen for Film, within the exhibition Le Mouvement des images, Center Pompidou in Paris (2007). Between 2003 and 2012, she participated in group exhibitions in Bucharest, Craiova and Timisoara, and in 2017 she exhibited at the gallery of Triade Foundation in Timisoara, part of Art Encounters events. In 2018 she presented the site-specific installation Art is a Blood Donor, curator Antigona Silvia Rogozea, at Galateca Gallery in Bucharest and ended the project in the same year, in the group exhibition Woman, All Too Woman, curator Andreea Foanene, at the Museum of Art Timisoara. In June 2021, on the occasion of Museum Night, she presented the Migrations. Homo Viator project at the Art Museum in Timişoara, curator Antigona Silvia Rogozea, co-curator Andreea Foanene.

The exhibition takes place between 24 septembrie-14 octombrie 2021 at Park Gallery of the Union of Visual Artists, Timișoara Branch, George Enescu 1

Visiting hours:
Tuesday-Sunday 9:00 to 17:00

Related program Art Encounters 02.10.2021:
10:00-11:30 Educational workshop for children, with the participation of children and young people with visual impairments, in partnership with the Iris Special Theoretical High School, Timișoara
12:00-13:00 Artist presentation Alina Cioara, moderator Antigona Silvia Rogozea, exhibition curator