'Nostalgia' in Timisoara exhibition by Art Number 23

‘‘Nostalgia” in Timisoara...

Exhibition Catalogue Flora Sopa Catherine Higham Agniezska Bloch Paul J. Kearney Maggy Milner Alex Vancu Rebecca Bradley Marisa Pilo Tomo Stanic Helen Morley Min Angel Suzanne de Emmony Amy Oliver Ben Snowden Sarah Nabarro Chris Webb Khalil Charif Marion Stuart Andrei Pitut Constantin - Marcel Fintina

July 2018

Misc. Art Center

Splaiul Nicolae Titulescu 14, Timișoara 300425, Romania

INDEX 1. Flora Sopa 2. Catherine Higham 3. Agniezska Bloch 4. Paul J. Kearney 5. Maggy Milner Art Number 23 is a London-based organi6. Alex Vancu sation, mainly responsible for curating art 7. Rebecca Bradley 8. Marisa Pilo exhibitions inside the U.K. and overseas. The 9. Tomo Stanic aim is to create opportunities in order to en10. Helen Morley courage and support artists from all over the 11. Min Angel world to exhibit and promote their work.

12. Suzanne de Emmony 13. Amy Oliver Previous projects of Art Number 23 include 14. Ben Snowden exhibitions in NYC and Philadelphia (USA), 15. Sarah Nabarro Moscow (Russia), Berlin (Germany), Athens 16. Chris Webb (Greece) and Amsterdam (Netherlands).

17. Khalil Charif 18. Marion Stuart www.artnumber23.uk / info@artnumber23.uk 19. Andrei Putit Constantin - Marcel Fintina

‘Nostalgia’

This is the third part of our traveling exhibition ‘Nostalgia’, that will take place in Timisoara.

In this exhibition, artists of various mediums and from di erent back- grounds are called to depict their remembrance of people, locations, experiences and feelings through their work.

The exhibited artworks, cover subjects that relate to memories and the past, such as childhood and family bonds; experiences in abusing relationships; references to the music scene and the night life in the 90s; the exploration of our identities through our tra- ditions; and more.

Painters, sculptors, printmakers and photographers are expressing some of the private sides of their past, as they reveal their personal stories, and share them through their art.

Artists Represented by Art Number 23 Kim Wan - I paint my self portraits at night,

each one is individual, a testament to that time and place, capturing a reflection, inside and out, only ever painted in one sitting...each new and different, but of the same face... no two ever alike, and yet integrally profound in their rendering. They represent the life and events of my sitting at that exact moment, I couldn’t tell you what has happened, time and memory are transient.

www.kimwanart.com / kimwanart@yahoo.com

Ekaterini Koliakou - I used my hands on can-

vas for an outstanding opportunity to create a colourful and thick textures which is good memories of myself in Holland as I used to live there by the whole meaningful way if Dutch ART attitudes Nostalgia for the youth and LOVE Figures is MY main concern about themes of MY OWN ART work.

www.ekaterinikoliakou.com / messageart@ymail.com

Ronald Gonzalez - Over the years I have

made a number of human figures out of found objects and detritus from my surroundings. I have been especially interested in making small solitary,decaying doll like bodies. This figure stands inside a small black box, now untouched, as if on a tiny stage for a moment in time as a final place of nostalgia, deformation, and mortality.

www.ronaldgonzalezstudio.com / rsculpture@yahoo.com

sopa_flora@yahoo.com / www.florasopa.com

Flora Sopa

I am an artist who is interested in finding a possible correlation between colours and sounds. By developing a technique based on cymatics, oil painting and water, I managed to create visual representations of sound vibration recordings.

Memories of a passing sound are small paintings on paper that were created with the vibration of almost audible sound frequencies. These nostalgic recordings remind us of the vibrant movement that has passed the paper’s surface, leaving a thin layer of paint behind.

Due to their size, they proudly disclose unique details. “Memories” of little bubbles of air can easily be spotted, evoking long existing parts of air trapped in between the paper and the moving water, as well as other repetitive movements.

The thin layer of the black lamp oil colour shows a longing for a past ephemeral moment. This one is completely silent now and immortalised directly on the two-dimensional support.

‘Memories of a Passing Sound’, 6 paintings , 25x25cm, oil on paper, 2018

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catherine@cjhigham.com / www.cjhigham.com

Catherine Higham

Ghost No. 1 and Ghost No. 2 are from a continuing series of works exploring memory, absence, and flux. The work investigates transient spaces, structures and surfaces; some previously occupied which may still resound with former human presence and contain traces of lost forms or marks of past activities.

Landscapes often bear marks of former use, remains of human intervention; mining, farming, industry. Natural environments are in flux, constantly changing with time, weather, erosion.

These paintings comprise washes and stains of ink which echo the tidal deposits of coal dust washed up onto the Northumbrian shores at Druridge Bay. ‘Ghost No. 1 & No. 2’, 40cm x 40cm Ink & pencil on canvas 2018

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www.agnieszkabloch.com / agnieszkabloch78@gmail.com

Agnieszka Bloch

My work was inspired by my Mother’s sudden death of leukemia in December 2015.

It is a first part of series titled ‘Saudade’ dedicated to my Mum. The work gives a sense of grief, heaviness and depression I experienced at that time. Working on this series, and especially on this particular drawing, helped me to deal with these emotions. The title, reference to Rembrandt’s painting, alludes to the attempt to examine grief and physical void. While working on this picture I was able to recognise, contain and transfer my emotions and transfer them from within into the outside world where I can look at them from the safe distance.

The picture/theme refers to greek ethymology of the word ‘nostalgia’ in the sense that death is a sort of ‘homecoming’ for the soul- painful yet inevitable.

‘The anatomy lesson of void’, printmaking ink drawing on paper, 22x31 cm, 2016

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facebook.com/pauljameskearneyart / pauljameskearney@gmail.com

Paul J. Kearney

It was January and I had just returned from Paris, it wasn’t the Paris as I remembered previously. At Gare du Nord I was greeted by an army tank parked outside and military police patrolling with machine guns. Feeling the claustrophobia of the metro, the city, and the threat of terrorism still being high I went in search of cultural distraction. It was at the Pompidou I succeeded in this and found myself in awe of the Lam retrospective. Moving through the galleries towards his later works I turned a corner and thought to myself “I have to paint this”. In retrospect, the choice of colour plate and the mood of the painting reflects the mood of the city at the time. The gestural rendering of Lam’s paintings denotes the transformative properties of art, the atmosphere within that space was relaxed and inspired despite the oppugnant one outside.

‘Wilfredo Lam, at the Centre Georges Pompidou’ Acrylic, Charcoal, and Ink on Canvas 21.0 x 29.7cm 2016

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magsmiln@sky.com / www.maggymilner.com

Maggy Milner

The Victorian Lace Mills in Nottingham are beautiful buildings and are a famous part of Nottingham’s history, I drove past this area of Nottingham regularly and in 2013 I was shocked to see what was happening and decided to make a series of photos titled Demolition.

‘Demolition’, Photography, print, 2013

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www.vancu.ro / vancu@me.com

Alex Vancu

“Selfies’’ is a series of self-portraits depicting key moments in the artist’s personal and interior life.. A form of communication trough reflection and exteriorization whispered in the silence of dark tones. The works presented loosely define a begining, the start of a road, but not its length and its end, as they are unknown. The technical creation of the works is diverse, made both on large, medium, 35mm and digital format.”

‘Selfies’, Photography series

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www.rebeccabradleyartist.com / info@rebeccabradleyartist.com

Rebecca Bradley

Rebecca Bradley’s ‘Illegible Frontiers’ is a series of oil paintings on birch ply wood. They reference railway journeys and the fleeting, momentary glimpses of unfamiliar landscapes afforded by train travel. As passengers our engagement with the passing views is fragmentary and distant, allowing for a particular kind of contemplation and speculation.

The unfolding, flickering landscape acts as a trigger for our inner thoughts and dreams. It is the ephemeral and transient nature of these insulated encounters with the landscape that interests Bradley, particularly in their power to provoke memories and imaginings, and a curiosity about our connection to place.

‘Postcard-like in format, Bradley’s paintings are miniaturized epics. Vastnesses pulled down to tiny formats, they give us expanses condensed. Hanging like ultra- high-res thumbnails, these Lilliputian landscapes are dense with sensual data, and littler than seems possible.’ (Sarah Hayden, 2017)

‘Graze’, 18.5 x 25.5 cm, oil on birch ply, 2017

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www.marisapilo.com / matelierart@gmail.com

Marisa Pilo

Time is a series of twenty photographs taken of an old movie of super 8 mm, made by my grandfather, he films my family inclusive the Great-grandparents that I never knew and is here the feeling of Nostalgia is found. “A desire to live a past, for have a chance to know him”.

The photos are precisely moments, with most of the possible movements of the film, and flights of the frame to another. Here is revealed an aura of the process of the movie on a photo.

The images obtained not only managed to also be fanciful full of magic and surreal, as can also be observed in them something of pictorial by the colors and scenes from old films.

“Once I said that we can see the spirit of my grandfather”, and I say that because I really believe that they have a true and real aura, but also mysterious.

‘Time’, Photography series, 50 x 33 cm, 2010

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www.tomostanic.com / tomo.stanic@gmail.com

Tomo Stanic

Some greetings, descriptions, thoughts and promises arrive at just the right time … Others do as well.

A little over twenty postcards from the years 1914 to 2008 were transcribed onto an empty white template and re-sent to the same addresses, the same addressees … Some addresses still exist unaltered, while others are a thing of the past and have long since been forgotten. The same holds true for addressees: some will receive the exact same message/greetings with a delay of several years, while others will be remembered when their grandchildren receive the postcard …

‘Repetitions’, Wall installation; Spatial installation 20 postcards (postcard size cca 12 cm x15 cm), 2014

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www.helenmorleyembroidery.co.uk / helenmorleyembroidery@gmail.com

Helen Morley

A current student of Fine Art studying in Preston, Helen Morley focuses her practice on the intricacies of nostalgia - be it the fond remembrance or the frustration of the loss of memory. Using the traditional story-telling medium of embroidery in the contemporary style of free-motion stitching, Helen specialises in embroidered pieces of work derived from quick study sketches of things she has experienced.

The lagoon plays with a similar idea to the collective memory, working with the assumption that by using a vague subject, the audience is able to overlay their own recollections of a similar place. The stitching is done in such a way that the further from the central focus of the blue lagoon itself the embroidery becomes less dense, showing the fading of details not deemed important to the memory, or simply the fading due to passage of time.

“The Lagoon�, 20 x 20 cm, Free-motion embroidery on fabric, 2017

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www.minangel.com / min.angel@mac.com

Min Angel

Min Angel’s practice is concerned with moving between the known and the unknown and is influenced by happenchance. Nostalgia she sees as an in-between transitional state: something once known is recast in the shadows of memory, shaped by longing, primped by comparison (the thief of joy) and cemented with loss. Colours are powerful emotive prompts and liliac Angel has found particularly nostalgic, melancholic and awkward. The challenge was to explore these feelings of nostalgia and to embrace the colour lilac.

‘Something’s Gotta Happen: Colour Works No. 7. In The Mood For Lilac.’

Acrylic on board. 43 x 43 cm, 2016

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sdeemmony@icloud.com / www.suzannedeemmony.com

Suzanne de Emmony

Through a process of appropriation, collage, assemblage and photography I explore themes that include transformation, truth & ambiguity, absence, voyeurism and acquisition I’m interested in the slippery quality of memory, particularly around the subject of childhood. How memory re-constructs events and/or fills the gaps in our recall, creating an alternative narrative to replace the unpalatable or alleviate the unease of a child’s ‘not knowing’.

I play with the idea of claiming, fracturing and reforming to allow an untried narrative to materialize.

A continuing interest in ideas around absence and presence run alongside an evolving fascination with collections and our relationship with objects. I’m exploring themes of transformation and ideas around shifts in time and a notion of haunting how the past haunts our present through nostalgia and memories and through the images and objects that surround us.

“To Be Where I have Not Been III”, collage, 2017

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amyoliver1970@gmail.com / www.fragilityofself.co.uk

Ammy Oliver

“This piece refers to my memories of the early to mid 90s underground drum ‘n’ bass club scene in Bristol, UK - a 3 year hazy high which eventually led to an amphetamine fuelled burnout. To this day I can’t hear the beat drop without smiling and chewing my teeth.”

“Flashback” 25x25x5cm box framed (12x12cm image within mount) Photo art (mannequins and digital edit)

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www.bensnowdenartist.com / info@bensnowdenartist.com

Ben Snowden

My work explores the relationships and ideas between subject and emotion, combining visceral energy with experience through painting. Inspired by the human form, poetry and the natural world, I use the language of abstraction to create work that emphasises on mood and expression to determine the overall feeling of the paintings. I predominantly work with enamel and household paints on materials such as paper, board, card, cloth and wood that I find in everyday life. My main focus is to create work that evokes the senses and ultimately communicates a positive and constructive view of the world.

‘Love is in my Head’, Mixed Media on board. 15.3cm x 12.3cm

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sarahnatasha433@gmail.com / www.sarahnabarroart.com

Sarah Nabarro

In this image, three faces represent multiple places and times, expressing how – in nostalgia – these become blurred. We are in many places at once – but never fully present in any of them. In particular, this piece explores a lost relationship and the selves that existed within it.

There is a desire to challenge form and also narrative in my work. I am interested in the dynamic between something and it’s “other”- text and image, colour and black and white, form and chaos, that which is “alive” and that which is simply an object, and presence and absence. In this instance, negative space is a reflection of absence even in presence – we cannot be present and also in the past.

I am also interested in confusing the distinctions between opposing concepts. In this confusion, it is as though I create, or discover, a kind of hyper-reality – something more expressive and intense than life, or an imitation of life, can ever be. It is “all at once”.

“Vanished Presents”, 35 cm x 25 cm, Media Mixed media, 2018

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chriswebb44@hotmail.com / www.chriswebbartist.com

Chris Webb

The nostalgic memory is from 1998 on the Isle of Iona in Scotland, a violinist is playing in a church hall behind me whilst I sit looking out to sea. The movement of the waves seemed to be in time to the music, an ocean symphony. Created from memories of before I lost my sight.

Chris Webb is an abstraction painter, creating a unique expressive and impressionistic view of his world after sightloss. It is clear that his visual impairment informs his artwork in very profound ways. The abstraction style he uses reflects his visual abilities and concentrates on the tones and depth to a painting.

‘Ocean Symphonies’ Acrylic Abstraction 30x50cm on Wood Panel

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www.khalilcharif.com / kaliosto21@yahoo.com.br

Khalil Charif

A mysterious messenger delivers a message. An invitation to reflection in which the artist uses elements of unspoken language to explore the uncertainty, the identity and the subjectivity, provoking us to try to recognize (or think) what defines each one of us. As we know, Nostalgia cannot be overcome in the physical field because it concerns an idealized vision of the past that each one has. Having this in mind, “The messenger” it could be anyone and therefore interlaces every one of us. The image itself came from a character of the artist’s film “The messenger and his double”, a chimera that was built to make us think about who we are. As a single photographic image (or as a moving image there in that film) this may be a possibility to rethink about that primordial question or in other ones - that for many could remain silent throughout life.

‘The Messenger’, Photography, 25x25cm, 2011

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www.marionstuart.co.uk/tools / marionjohns@hotmail.co.uk

Marion Stuart

Marion Stuart’s ceramic tools are a part of an ongoing examination of carpentry tools inherited from her father. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a ship building company and as he was the son of an impoverished widow, his tools were bought by a local charity, the tools changed the direction of his life. In this narrative she communicates the story of the tools and also a story of the men of this time and the men we know and their tools. So many of us have tools in sheds and workshops our fathers, grandfathers and uncles have used and are now disused these familiar items in ceramic form bring us a sense of nostalgia like an echo.

‘Compass’, 15cm x 7cm x 1cm porcleain paper clay, 2017

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Andrei Pitut Constantin - Marcel Fintina pitut_andrei@yahoo.com

fintinaconstantin24@gmail.com

The installation proposes an anatomy of the form expressed and exploited affectively in a productive manner of fragmentation of the body of matter. The interest in natural forms draws attention to the change of the human psyche which has been transformed into the inevitable passage of time, implicitly and far from origins, from natural. All that man has accumulated so far has been filtered, but its rigidity and aggressiveness are now diminishing in intensity in the face of soap cleaning power.

After completing and combining materials that are viable from the point of view of tradition, with the forms subsequently created by the present materials, the way of expressing the two artists who succeed in gathering in one concentration of substance the experiences through the simple connection between the matter and temporality – Ioana Terheș

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Nostalgia in Timisoara

Misc. Arts Center

Splaiul Nicolae Titulescu 14, Timișoara 300425, Romania