Two Gorzo: Ioana Gorzo & Dumitru Gorzo

Arsmonitor, Bucharest, RO

By Maxime Foucquet

March 8, 2024

A brand-new show at Arsmonitor in Bucharest titled Two Gorzo presents a compelling duo show featuring the works of Ioana Gorzo and Dumitru Gorzo, artists who engage in a dialogue across the canvas. Through their distinctive drawings and paintings, they explore less-trodden paths of art as their works share a common thread of anti-representation, challenging viewers to reconsider their preconceptions of visual art.

The exhibition stands out for its critical examination of drawing and painting, pushing the conversation beyond traditional art historical boundaries into the realm of visual studies—a crucial aspect of contemporary cultural discourse. It questions the retro-modernist elevation of painting as the pinnacle of artistic craftsmanship, traditionally celebrated for its technical superiority. The show particularly interrogates painting’s nostalgic status as the “queen of the arts,” dissecting 20th-century dichotomies such as figurative versus non-figurative. It positions the medium not as the primary vessel of artistic expression but as a secondary, material support for the immaterial essence of the image.

Another subject of inquiry is the personal identity of the artist, often understood through individual mastery, generational lineage, and belonging. Dumitru Gorzo, known for his prominence—or notoriety—within the art scene of the 2000s, joins forces with Ioana Gorzo in a partnership that surpasses subjective expression in favor of collaborative exploration. The exhibition showcases how, for Ioana Gorzo, imagery emerges from a process of cold, objective analysis, stripping away the subject to reveal a landscape of degradation through a non-objective lens. Conversely, Dumitru Gorzo’s approach heats the discourse, where form and contour dissolve into the physicality and depth of the canvas, each layer adding to the narrative.

In essence, Two Gorzo invites viewers to reflect on the nature of image creation from two divergent yet converging perspectives. It proposes that art, in its most provocative form, can either be a deliberate act of preservation through elimination or a serendipitous accumulation of excess. For more information, please visit Arsmonitor here.