LONDON.- Commissioned by European ArtEast Foundation, Painterly Affinities is the first UK exhibition dedicated to exploring the dialogue and personal connection between two Romanian painters associated with the Cluj School of Painting phenomenon - octogenarian master Cornel Brudaşcu and his younger disciple Alin Bozbiciu. Co-curated by Maria Rus Bojan and Dr. Thierry Morel, the intimate exhibition brings together portraiture and figurative compositions. Charting the artists master-apprentice relationship and subsequent abiding friendship, it includes several portraits they have made of each other, their everyday surroundings and dance performances, as well as paintings that express their shared love for dogs.

A prominent figure in Romanian art since the 60s, Cornel Brudaşcu (b.1937) witnessed country’s tumultuous transition after the only violent overthrow of a communist government in the 1989 revolutions. One of the mentors of a group of younger figurative painters known internationally as the Cluj School, Brudaşcu’s influence on subsequent generations of Romanian artists is profound.

A room dedicated to his early work at the landmark exhibition The World Goes Pop at London’s Tate Modern in 2015, brought international recognition but Brudaşcu is mainly known for his painterly and poetic canvases which reference art history and allude to Old Masters. Painterly Affinities presents a number of these recent works - small figurative oil paintings in dark hues which showcase the artist’s distinctive handling of paint. Sensual touches and gestural accumulation lead to the construction of a surface where there is a fusion between the figurative and the abstract.

While Brudaşcu’s works are small and give a sense of a painterly continuum, Alin Bozbiciu’s (b.1989) canvases are large, gestural and performative. An intense application of paint conveys a sense of presence and physicality. Using introspective and dream-like compositions he captures his subjects in action as distorted figures, using paint to represent the many facets of contemporary experience and the human condition.




Taking the viewer through various narratives that are intentionally approached by the artists in similar ways, the exhibition presents a visual experience that highlights a symbiosis between them. While containing a wealth of references to art history, mythology and philosophy, the works on show are also intimately linked to their personal and shared experiences. It allows us to understand the ongoing master - apprentice dialogue through painterly techniques while at the same time conveying strong feelings of intimacy, friendship and mutual admiration.

Director of European ArtEast Foundation, Jonathan Tybel says: “We are very pleased to be able to host this incredibly personal and intimate exhibition in London, which tells a story of learning and friendship between these two outstanding artists. This project couldn’t be better aligned with the Foundations mission of maintaining historical artists legacies combined with giving visibility to exciting contemporary artists coming out of the Eastern European Region.”

Cornel Brudaşcu lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Selected exhibitions include: Secret Wing, ArtEncounters Biennale 4th edition, Timisoara (2021) Collection display, Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2021); HABITER L’INTIME, Fondation Thalie, Brussels (2019); Flesh and Bone, PS120, Berlin (2019); Ex-East, past and recent stories of the Romanian Avant-Garde, Espace Niemeyer, Paris (2019); Une saison roumaine au Centre Pompidou, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018); Life – A User’s Manual, ArtEncounters Biennale 2nd edition, Timisoara (2017); Cornel Brudaşcu, Plan B, Berlin (2017); Parfum 79, VNH Gallery, Paris (2017); The Wanderers, Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York,(2017);The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern, London (2015); Burning Down the House, 10th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (2014); Keen Observer, Galleria Doris Ghetta, Ortisei (2014); Mirror Stage, Seven Studies of Composition, Cornel Brudaşcu & Alin Bozbiciu, le Plafond, Amsterdam (2015); Salonul de vara, Plan B, Cluj (2012); East of Eden - Photorealism: Versions of Reality, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2011); Romanian Cultural Resolution, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig (2010); The Museum of Painting, The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest (2005). His works in collections including Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, National Museum of History, Bucharest, Contemporary Art Museum Galati, The Art Museum Cluj-Napoca.

Alin Bozbiciu lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He graduated from the Painting Department of the Cluj University of Art and Design in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include: It’s by touching the feathers of a bird that I find the best way to paint human skin at Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris (2020); Mimesis: (Re)imagining the Real at the Municipal Gallery Dworcowa, Wroclaw, Poland (2018); Theater as Life, (2017) and After The Sacrifice, (2016) Galerie Untilthen, Paris. He has participated in group exhibitions: Secret Wing, at the fourth edition of the Art Encounters Biennale, Timisoara (2021), Us and Dogs, Dogs and Us, Panstwowa Galeria Sztuki, Sopot, Poland (2021); Time is the Game of Man, the third edition of Art of the Treasure Hunt in the Chianti region, Borgo San Felice, Montalcino (2018), Life as a User’s Manual, the second edition of the Timisoara Art Encounters Biennale (2017), Disruptive Imagination, Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava, Czech Republic (2017), The Wanderers, Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York, USA(2017), 104 Galerie Collection, 104 Galerie, Tokyo, Japan (2017); Keen Observer, Galleria Doris Ghetta, Ortisei, Italy, 2014; Mirror Stage, Seven Studies of Composition, Cornel Brudaşcu & Alin Bozbiciu, le Plafond, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Works in public collections include: Musee de la Chasse, Paris and Q Contemporary Collection, Budapest. His works are part of many important private collections across Europe, Asia, America and South America.

The exhibition is kindly supported by AFCN - The Romanian National Cultural Fund, Electroglobal, Cluj-Napoca, MB Art Agency, Amsterdam. With special thanks to Plan B Gallery, Cluj/Berlin and Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris.

European ArtEast Foundation at Cromwell Place
4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE
Wednesday - Saturday: 10am - 6pm
Sunday: 10am - 4pm