With Valentin Tănase's personal exhibition, WIN Gallery invites you to step into the “Unreal reality” of the artist and muse about your own.
Is there only one reality? Is it perishable or enduring? Is it collective or deeply personal? There are many tragedies and anecdotes around the things we – humanity – used to think were laws of nature, of the universe, of God(s). For a while, it was a “fact” that the Earth sat at the center of the solar system. It was as obvious as the succession of day and night, as logical as one plus one equals two. To affirm this today is sure to place you among the lunatics. A couple hundred years ago, to deny it would have, ironically, earned you the same distinction. Yet, there were rebels like Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno - occasionally subversive of institutions but primarily of ignorance.
Observation and science do matter; they are transformative and empowering. However, there is always something else that precedes them, that fuels them through: it is the unrivaled courage of imagination. There is a spark, a novel way of seeing that allows us to challenge the status quo, and truth as we learned it. It is in this common, fertile ground of curiosity, creativity and fantasy that science and art meet. They are twin methods of exploring the same thing: our way towards progress, pleasure and profit.
The period we are traversing, particularly with the rise of artificial intelligence and emphasis on science obliges us to reconsider the role of art and the position of the artist. We are more than archives of functionalities and data. We are florilegiums of emotions, beliefs and dreams.
The artist's pursuit is as complicated as it is unique and thus irreplaceable: to unite “reality” - the tangible, the conventional - with the “unreality” of this sentimental and subconscious florilegium.
Exploring this subject with well-known Romanian artist Valentin Tănase has been nothing short of a golden opportunity. His passion for history, literature and mythology reflects in generous symbolism, allegories and rich cultural references. This classical direction is very well complemented by his mastery of graphics and illustration, making him versatile, modern and fresh. This is evident in the diversity of his creation: from comic strips to book illustrations, monumental paintings, murals and mosaics. His signature is present in some of Romania's most respected institutions, including: the Ministry of Defense, the National Military Museum, the CEC Palace, etc.
The selection of works, made by Marinela Măntescu-Isac, the curator of the exhibition, allows the art lover and collector to contemplate Valentin Tănase's intellectual prowess alongside his remarkable technique and originality in reframing old questions into contemporary context. He succeeds in being sober without being stiff, elegant without being predictable or dull, universal without leaving out the Romanian spirit.
WIN Gallery remains dedicated to the purpose of bringing forth inspiring people and ideas and above all, of encouraging questions that enable us to broaden our perspective not only by training the eye, but also the mind and the soul. Valentin Tanase's exhibition comes at a moment when much of our society is struggling to define reality, to separate authenticity from falsehood, value from pseudo-worth. It is our hope that you will enjoy this incursion into the unreal reality of the artist and muse about your own.
Cristian Pascu - Patron of the Arts
Irina Stoenescu - Chairlady
Catalin Gurita-Manole - Director of Experience
