Augustin Razvan Radu
Augustin Răzvan Radu was born in 1974 in Bucharest, Romania and studied at The National University of Arts in Bucharest, where he graduated with a BA in 2014 and with a MA in 2016, both in Painting. He participated to many important exhibitions and won prestigious prizes (such as a Diploma scholarship for graduate students awarded by Unicredit Bank).
The artist works mainly in oil, but likes to experiment with different materials such as ash, dust and shellac in order to create expressive layered surfaces. His paintings are sometimes funny, most of the times ironic and sarcastic, but always surprising. Augustin Radu has a critical approach to different aspects of society especially those regarding man’s lack of authenticity rendered through different series of caricature portraits depicting corrupt priests, ”beauty queens” with a superficial outlook on life and also sleeping creepy-looking figures which may be a metaphor for the ”sleepy” consciousness of man. Through his series depicting eerie, grey, empty buildings, which still bare the traces left by bullets, the artist poses questions regarding the true significance of the 1989 Romanian Revolution in the collective memory, an event that was initially perceived as a new earned freedom. Metaphorically, the buildings and the lethargic frail human bodies are seen as cages or shells enhabited by one’s true essence which so many fear confronting or understanding. Radu’s artworks provide that very present–moment stillness which allows time for self-reflection. ⒸAD
PERSONAL EXIBITIONS
2019 The imminence of life in the sensitive shell – ArtHalle Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2019 LSD – GMP Solutions, Bucharest, Romania
2018 S.O.S. – 1001Arte Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2018 PAN- PAN (Sincere Flight Security Instructions) – Theodor Costescu Palace, Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Romania
2018 Pre-Summer Mood – AHK Romania, Bucharest, Romania
2015 CS 1.9.89 – Jecza Gallery, Timișoara, Romania
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)
2020 WAS JeTzT? What’s next? – National Library of Romania, Bucharest, Romania
2019 Portretul ilegalistului la 30 de ani – 1001Arte Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2019 DISTANT CLOSENESS, INTIMATE EXPANSE, FIVE PLUS ART GALLERY, Vienna, Austria
2019 Filth – LaBorna Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2018 Work in Progress – ArtHalle Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2018 National Salon of Contemporary Art – National Museum of Art, Bucharest, Romania
2018 Personal Abstract – 1001Arte, Bucharest, Romania
2018 Extension + –UNA Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2018 Metropolis Sancta – 1001Arte Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2017 Astra Salons – Astra Museum, Sibiu, Romania
2017 National Painting Salon – Caminul Artei, Bucharest, Romania
2016 3rd Edition International Oil Painting Camp – Zhangjiajie, China
2016 Astra Salons – Astra Museum, Sibiu, Romania
2016 The Nature of Artists, FIVE PLUS ART GALLERY, Vienna, Austria
2015 International Biennal of Painting – Chisinău, Moldova
2015 Dobrogea interbelica de la Sulina la Balcik – Muzeul of Art, Constanța, Romania
2015 The (Irreversible) Passage of Time – Annart Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2015 Sweet Concrete – Elite Art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2015 The Sense of the Body – Albertina Academy, Turin, Italy
2014 Does Power Seduce the Soul? – Timișoara, Romania
2014 Exhibition of graduates from the Painting Department – UNARTE, Caminul Artei, Bucharest
2014 The Most interesting Fine Art Graduates of 2014 – Stirbei Pallace, Bucharest
2014 150 Years of UNArte. Painting, Graphic Arts, Sculpture – Dalles Hall, Bucharest, Romania
2014 Christianity in Dobrogea – Muzeum of Art, Constanța, Romania
2014 (IN)FINITY WE TRUST – UNA Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2013 “EXTENSION” – Romalo Castle, Bucharest, Romania
AWARDS
2016 diploma scholarship for graduate students awarded by Unicredit Bank Romania
2014 first prize – National painting contest JUVENTUS, organized by TRIADE Foundation, Timișoara, Romania
2011/6 Merit-Based Scholarship, National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania
PUBLICATIONS
2018 TRIBUNA Magazine no. 387/2019
2015 Vol. XIV, LUMINA Magazine, edited by Sarah Lawrence College, New York, America
2015 Catalog IL SENSO DEL CORPO, edited by Academia Albertina di Belle Arti, Torino, Italia
