Florin Stefan
Presentation
Florin Stefan is a Romanian artist. He lives and works in Cluj, the second artistic capital right after Bucharest. This city has held the attention those past few years thanks to the emergence of what some may call its school of painting just like Leipzig did. Florin Stefan's paintings cover as much interior and genre scenes, as portraits, nudes and landscapes. The feminine figures are abundant in his work. May they be sitting, leaning, drowsed in front of a mirror, cleaning themselves, or in bed, they all reflect the instant, the desire that arises and become blunted, the attraction as Ami Barack writes.
Those figures became impertinent works of art thanks to their framing and the richness of the tones used. The peculiar vision that Florin Stefan has of the things that surround him, his subjects, are far from lacking character and he expresses it through color, light and material.
Florin Stefan is also one of the first artists that freed himself from the weight of the chaotic past of his country. He chose to express himself through a resolutely contemporary art and which does not exclude his doubts, his fears, but also reveals a struggle between the artist and his painting.
He was born in 1968 (Romania).He now lives and works in Cluj, Romania, where he also runs an art center.
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Education
2009
PhD in Visual Art with the thesis: "The Landscape, Postmodern Rehabilitation", University of Art and Design, Cluj, Romania
2000 - 2001
Master (DESS), University of Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle, Intercultural Relations, International Cultural Policies and Cultural Management, Paris, France
1987 - 1993
MA, "Ioan Andreescu" University, Painting Department, Cluj, Romania
Solo shows (slection)
2019
Morpheus, Art Capital Festival, Old and New Dreams edition, Barcsay Museum, Szentendre, Hungary
2018
This is not a love song, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
2017
La boite rouge, Espace Iconoscope, Montpellier, France
2016
FaceTime, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
2014
Elegia, Le Plafond gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2012
Dead Man, Museum of fine arts, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2009
Magnetic Landscapes, Arcade gallery, Bistrita, Romania
2008
Identity Reconstruction (avec Cristian Opris), Balkan – Tranzit festival, Normandie, France
2007
Roda de Domingo (Sunday Dance), Romanian cultural institute gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
2006
Landscapes, Museum of fine arts, Cluj Napoca, Romania
2005
Sunday Dance, Vonderau Museum, Fulda, Germany
2005
Landscapes, during The Romanian Culture Week, Kunststation Kleinsassen, Germany
2004
Minimal Landscapes, MAP gallery, Bosa, Sardaigne, Italy
2003
Photographs exhibition, Galerie La Bombe, during “Transylvania Express”, International biennial
1999
Garden of Eden, Artexpo, Bucarest, Roumanie ; Espace d'Art de la ville, Nantes, France ; Trafo gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1998
Garden of Eden, Gallery of the Union of Artists, UAP, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
1996
New Works, Carona gallery, Lugano, Swiss
1993
Abses, Art university gallery, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Group shows (slection)
2023
2023
Perspectiva Cluj: Dynamic trajectories of the Centrul de Interes, Pastificio Cerere Foundation, Rome, Italy.
We are monads, we are nomads, Tomav Torre Di Moresco - Centro Arti Visive, Italy.
2021
Le jour n'est pas si loin, Manifesta, Lyon, France
Icons for the end of the world, duo exhibition with Robert Bosisio, Spatiu Intact, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Les Partis pris d'Anne-Sarah Bénichou, curated by Henri Guette, Festival International du Livre et du Film d'art, Perpignan, France
2021 = 5, exhibition celebrating the 5th birthday of the gallery, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
2019
Térfélcsere, ICA-D, Dunaújváros, Hungary
2018
Group exhibition, D gallery, villa Park, South Korea
2017
Life A User's Manual, Art Encounters, Contemporary Art Biennial, Timisoara, Romania
2016
Wasted Time, Art Capital – Visual Arts Festival and Biennale, Musée Ferenczy – ArtMill, Szentendre, Hungary
2015
From mere abstract to almost figurative, Zorzini gallery, Bucarest, Romania
2012
Fake It, Spatiu Intact, (curated by Horea Avram), Paintbrush Factory, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2011
Academia di Brera, Fondazione Maimeri, Milan, Italy
2005
Museum of Fine arts, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2001
Gallery of the Association of Hungarian Artists, Budapest, Hungary
1995
Hora Romaneasca, Kunststation Kleinsassen, Germany
1992
Ecce Homo, Orizont gallery, Bucarest, Romania
Residencies
2017
Vivaldi Park, Hongcheon, South Korea
2007
Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1995
ArtEst, Ligornetto, Lugano, Swiss?
Prizes/Awards
1992
Grand Prix de Peinture, Concours International de Fresco, Académie des Beaux-Arts and Conseil régional de Namur, Belgium
1992
Annual prize « L'Union des Artistes » for the exhibition “Ecce Homo”, Bucarest, Romania
1998
Annual Prize “L'Union des Artistes” for the exhibition “Garden of Eden”, Bucarest, Romania