This event showcases essential pieces of Manea's practice, reflecting his continuous exploration of major social issues. The exhibition will be open until April 14, daily, with prior phone scheduling required for visits.
Manea's conceptual art practice confronts strong socio-political and cultural themes and presents them in intriguing, aesthetically compelling forms. Each piece is meant to provoke a reaction from the viewer and invite reflection on their position in relation to the artwork and the world.
“We live in turbulent times, filled with major events that are changing the fate of mankind, but many of us live in indifference and ignorance. I believe it is the constant duty of any artist to address these issues through art. Now more than ever. These works, which address truly important events, will remain relevant 100 years from now, unlike those with superficial themes based on consumerism. It’s debatable whether art referencing these issues is commercial. It probably is, but only at a certain level," says the artist.
Resonating with the traces of memory embedded in found materials, Alex Manea works with various objects in the spirit of arte povera and combines these materials with a minimalist aesthetic objective. Manea prioritizes concept over formal concerns, using his artistic strategies and technical methods to serve the theme at hand. While his practice is idea-driven, the resulting body of work perfectly blends form and function.
The Remains of the Day presents a selection of works from an ongoing series developed by the artist, based on front-page articles from major publications as well as corresponding television titles and articles.
“This project is actually a series I continuously develop, based on one of my main concerns: the study and presentation of the major socio-political events covered by the world’s largest publications. We all see what kind of events have been happening in recent years—situations we never even imagined. Even though this exhibition features works created over the past three years, one can still observe the similarities and the prophetic state of the news. Most of the titles and themes proposed can be directly associated with today’s headlines,” adds Alex Manea.
Alex Manea (Romania, born 1988) is a visual artist from Bucharest, Romania. His work revolves around the idea that each piece of art should deliver a powerful message to the viewer, ideally pushing them to react in some way to the subject of the work. For this reason, most of his compositions address significant social issues.
