October 7 - 17, 2011
BAZIS
contemporary art space
F.D.P. - Fabrica de Pensule, 59-61 H. Barbusse st., 1st floor
Cluj Napoca
VULNERABLE
artists: Lidia Tropea & Betuker Istvan
“It comes so soon, the moment when there is nothing left to wait for.”
Marcel Proust
Lidia Tropea (b. 1974) - photographer, Catania, Italy
Liquido
“Liquid” defines something that slides, very slowly, then it takes control over territories by diffusing itself. Like an unwritten story, made of words, narrated by an old person to a young one, by grandfather to grandson. The sensation is fluid, light, yet the lasting impression is physically powerful and continues to pour and impregnate our veins, as water shapes rock. These stories are similar to saga novels, capturing the narration of several generations, each one bound to its own rite of passage, conferring new meanings to the story through successive transformations; just as the river, in its flow to the sea, collects wickers, plants, clay, grass - and in the end all elements become one.
Ultimately, all these amalgamated rivers and stories find their significance in each of us, in the vast sea of our common cultural tradition.
Betuker Istvan – painting
The Sleeper
“It comes so soon, the moment when there is nothing left to wait for.” Marcel Proust
But we still chose to isolate our vulnerabilty, maybe as a self-protection mechanism, choosing not to choose the idea of time passing. And, all of the sudden, the idea of the inevitable end occurs. Even rejected emotionally, it still imprints a profound feeling of uncertainty all the way, throughout our lives.
The “Sleeper” range observes the very feeling of human being’s vulnerability, through a series of expressions caught on the facies of the old man sleeping. He might even be dreaming… The facial muscles are relaxed, allowing the lips to part. The diffuse background light creates an atmosphere of a profound unease to the viewer. The painings dare us to discern if the man lying there is just sleeping, or if his sleep is eternal. We ourselves become vulnerable all of the sudden, facing the thin line between life and its end.
Press
