For our first of lazy Sunday afternoons, we invite artist Simion Cernica to screen a selection of his films and writer / former resident Adrian Schiop to do what he does best – cook.
Simion has an amazing range of extremely subtle video and film works, dealing with absurd and problematic issues from the Romanian post-communist society, as well as his Californian adopted home for almost 4 years now.
Adrian is well-known for his novels and short stories dealing with marginal characters in contemporary Romania. His latest novel, The Soldiers (Soldații), centers on a romantic affair between a journalist-anthropologist and 34 year-old former convict who spent most of his formative years in jail; it will be turned into a film in 2016.
Adrian was a resident at ODD for 3 months in 2015 with his project Single Man Looking, when we discovered his passion for cooking typical Romanian dishes. The arty-est ciorba in town will thus accompany some of the wittiest tapes around.
Biographies
Simion Cernica
Born in Bucharest, Romania. Currently works and lives in Los Angeles.
As an artist deliberately avoided the conservative and stagnant reality of attending art school in Romania during the chaotic transition from communism to capitalism in the 90s. As a result, he created his own personal method of studying contemporary art.
Initially he focused on photography, painting, video/film, installation and later extended toward whatever medium and discourse necessary to express his conceptual position and formal exploration. Recently, after many years, he has returned to the ‘painting’ medium as his main studio practice.
He develops his practice by researching the current socio-political and cultural energies, the layered 20th century and recent history. While questioning our approved cultural perspectives, he is committed to creating art that is continuously adjusted, aiming to challenge the way we perceive our reality, cultural history and advance our precarious humanity.
His works and projects have been exhibited internationally in alternative art spaces, commercial galleries, public space, contemporary art institutions and museums and are found in private collections in Asia, Australia, Europe and the US.
Venues among others: Expanded Space 2016, Romania; ODD project space, Bucharest, Romania; Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Rome, Italy; Art Encounters Biennial, Timișoara, Romania; National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, Romania; MAGMA, Sf. Gheorghe, Romania; Salonul de Proiecte, Bucharest, Romania; ‘photo LA’, Los Angeles, USA; HAU, Berlin, Germany; Matadero, Madrid, Spain; Atelier 35, Bucharest, Romania; UQBAR art space, Berlin, Germany; National Dance Center, Bucharest, Romania; The Know, Public Art Project Germany/ Romania; Romanian Cultural Institute, Venice, Italy.
Adrian Schiop
Writer, author of pe bune/pe invers, Zero Grade Kelvin (Polirom, 2009) and Soldaţii. Poveste din Ferentari (Polirom, 2013) which centers on a romantic affair between a journalist-anthropologist and 34 year old former convict who spent most of his formative years in jail (between the ages of 15 and 30).