Ana Maria Micu

b. 1979, Romanian

By Julien Delagrange

April 30, 2021

Biography

Ana Maria Micu is a contemporary painter living and working in Botosani, Romania. She is best known for her figurative body of works, exploring body language, (self-)portraiture, interiors, personal spaces and more.

Born in 1979 in Botosani, Romania, a frequent starting point for the Romanian artist are photographic snapshots of her everyday life and environment. Often, the reference photographs are taken in her own private and personal spaces, creating a certain intimacy and bringing the viewer into her personal surroundings.

The uncanny depiction of clothes, fabrics, plants, the herringbone wood floor are all marked by a deeply psychological dimension residing in her oeuvre. Although being a very skillful painter, one notices immediately there is a different level in the image which is more important and carries more value than the sum of its individual parts.

Portrait of Ana Maria Micu. Photo: Saatchi.

This synergetic notion has brought national and international success to Ana Maria Micu’s career. Micu achieved her MA in 2004 at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania after a Socrates-Erasmus Program at the Athens School of Fine Arts in Greece. Having studied in Cluj, she is one of the main representatives of the contemporary art scene in Cluj, Romania.

Ever since, the Romanian painter has been exhibiting across the globe being represented by galleries such as Mind Set Art Center in Taipei, Taiwan or C-Space Gallery in Beijing, China. She has participated in collective exhibitions at renowned institutions such as The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, Romania or participated in the Fourth Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in Russia. As a result Ana Maria Micu is featured in public collections such as the museum collection of The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, Romania or the Fontys Art Collection in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Artworks

Ana Maria Micu, Workers, will still be… to stay, 2020. Oil on linen – 120 x 80 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Ana Maria Micu, Those who experience… One helpful method, 2020. Oil on linen – 185 x 120 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Ana Maria Micu, By crowds, all sorts of… He was granted an audience, 2019. Oil on linen – 157 x 185 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Ana Maria Micu, The intrusion of chance and… Pleasures, 2018. Oil and acrylic on canvas – 82 x 117 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Ana Maria Micu, Finishes, trim and … All surfaces must be, 2018. Oil on canvas – 187 x 124 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Ana Maria Micu, *Intelligence … If then there is an invincible necessity*, 2018. Oil and acrylic on canvas – 60 x 90 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Julien Delagrange

Julien Delagrange (b. 1994, BE) is an art historian, contemporary artist, and the director of CAI and CAI Gallery. Previously, Delagrange has worked for the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, the Jan Vercruysse Foundation, and the Ghent University Library. His artistic practice and written art criticism are strongly intertwined, examining contemporary art in search of new perspectives in the art world.

Author archive →