PUBLICations
Dan Perjovschi
01.12.22 — 23.03.23
"Public. PUBLICATION. I am public. I have my audience. My art is public.
Newspapers are a public space. Revista 22 where I have published since 1990. The books are also "editions", not a unique copy, that is, they are more public than other forms of art. The postcards, what can I say, at what price they are, are much more accessible than any publication of the art.
I work with the public directly, my drawings address a very wide spectrum. My art is under the public eye, everything I do is visible. There is nothing hidden."
PUBLICations showcases the collection of Dan Perjovschi's publications to provide a retrospective perspective on over three decades of activity. In a daring attempt to go through the series of books and newspapers, with the aim of inventorying and archiving them, I came across several important aspects of Perjovschi's practice: freedom of expression and criticism, art as a catalyst for change and the public role behind it.
The exhibition emphasises the intersection between public art and its practice, the medium of print contributing to the transformation of the relationship between the viewer and art; at the same time, it also requires a different kind of observation, which differs from going through a regular exhibition. The lack of institutional context gives the reader freedom to be a direct witness of the artistic process, to research and understand the meaning of the message independently, through an unmediated experience, a tête-à-tête conversation with the artist.
The physical medium of paper has always been an essential aspect in Perjovschi's work, being the first place where his ideas take shape. This path can be traced within the inventory, the way the drawings evolve from one project to another, how and where they reappear, how they change their tone and message depending on the subject and the context they represent. His drawings, although temporary in architectural spaces, end up evolving through constant aesthetic and conceptual feedback in the printed medium.
The drawings are not just transferred from one sketchbook to another or from one place to another, but pass from one person to another, from one mind to another, endlessly spreading the activism inherent in his artistic projects.
"I make a notebook for each show or project. It's like a pocket studio and research space. [...] There are a lot of bad drawings, things that don't work, bad jokes. Humor is hard to capture... Out of the two hundred drawings in a notebook, thirty or fifty will end up on the wall and maybe ten will enter the general repertoire."
The print presents itself as an opportunity for the artist to spread his ideas outside the institutions to a wider audience. Books, newspapers, flyers and postcards create a context in which we can closely explore his art and practice, allowing us access to his creative laboratory, the place where the whole transformative process of an idea is found. The inventory made for the exhibition includes the way Dan Perjovschi sees, understands and illustrates the world, and secondarily plays the role of a living archive: an accumulation of practice, a testimony of his actions and projects.
“Every time I had the chance I printed a black-and-white newspaper; nothing fancy, just eight or 16 pages of simple, straightforward, drawn statements that people could pick up at the show and take home. I infiltrate houses. Free of charge. Now, after 20 years [ed. 30 years], it has become a diorama of the achievements and failures of human societies.
Monica Dănilă, curator
Albert Kaan, exhibition design
Alice Voinea, visual identity
Palpabil studio, riso print
Veronica Negrilă, exhibition views
