Marius Bercea

Biography

Over the last two decades, Marius Bercea has come to prominence for his visually striking depictions of the social and psychological aftereffects of the Romanian Revolution, the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the influx of consumer capitalism in Romania. His work often blends opposing perspectives, creating spaces that weave history with personal experience, fiction with reality, and glamour with vulnerability. In recent years, Bercea has focused his portraiture on a generation of young Romanians, specifically those born around 1989, reflecting their uniquely mixed sense of historical memory and their collaged experience of liberal democracy and the free market. Like his subjects, Bercea's paintings are themselves descendants of influences scattered through time, including early European Modernists, Silver Screen Hollywood, and a Pop exaltation of color, patterning and fashion. Bercea's world is one in which multiple systems of value are made manifest in the collision of distinct visual vocabularies and vibrant juxtapositions.

Marius Bercea (b. 1979) lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He received his BA and MA at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. His recent solo exhibitions include Art Encounters Foundation, Timișoara, Romania (2024); Lyles & King, New York (2024); François Ghebaly, New York (2022) MAKI, Tokyo (2021); François Ghebaly, Los Angeles (2020); and Cluj Museum of Art, Romania (2017). His recent group exhibitions include Matt Carey Williams, London (2024); Kunsthalle Prague, Czech Republic (2023); Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke (2023); WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo (2022); Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark (2021); and Muzeul de Artă Recentă, Bucharest, Romania (2021). Publications include a book of his photography, Sun Tan Mustang, published in the summer of 2019, and Marius Bercea, published on the occasion of the exhibition, Time Can Space, March 3–April 14, 2018, at Blain Southern, Berlin.

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