Common Body: Magdalena & Bogdan Pelmuș

Arsmonitor, Bucharest, RO

By Maxime Foucquet

May 8, 2024

Arsmonitor Bucharest is pleased to present the exhibition “Common Body” or “Corp Comun,” featuring the collective works of Magdalena and Bogdan Pelmuș, which marks a pivotal moment in the duo’s twenty-year artistic journey. The exhibition showcases a comprehensive collection of drawings, paintings, ready-made sculptures, and videos, not only emphasizing the maturity of the artists but also serving as a reflective medium on the fragility and vulnerability of the human body under contemporary lenses.

Magdalena and Bogdan Pelmuș have carved a significant niche in the Romanian contemporary art scene since their emergence post-2000. Known for their collaborative approach, the couple has adeptly navigated through performance, installation, digital media, happenings, and video art. Their work is a critical response to the socio-political transformations and technological advancements affecting Eastern Europe since the turn of the millennium. With initiatives like Sursa Group, Glocal History, Loading Open Lab, and Hybrid Manifestation, they have fostered artistic self-organization and autonomy, challenging and engaging with the broader artistic community.

“Corp Comun” explores the complex relationship between the physical and psychic elements of the human body. The exhibition is a study in contrasts and complementarity, juxtaposing the mechanical with the emotional and the structural with the spontaneous. Through metaphors of dissection and anatomical study, it delves into themes of memory and psychological states, presenting a unified yet paradoxical view of the human form. This exhibition stands apart by not aligning directly with the prevailing currents of postmodern thought, such as posthumanism or the Anthropocene. Instead, it offers a recuperative narrative celebrating the cohesion and intrinsic unity of the human condition, employing contemporary aesthetic strategies to highlight and explore these themes.

Magdalena and Bogdan Pelmuș reaffirm their role as vital contributors to the discourse of contemporary art, not merely as artists but as philosophers of the visual. The exhibition urges us to contemplate the essence of human existence and the inherent vulnerabilities that define it. For more information, please visit Arsmonitor here.