Stefan Constantinescu (scientist)
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Ștefan Constantinescu, (born 10 February 1968), is a Swedish-Romanian visual artist and film director living and working in Stockholm. He works with various mediums including film, artist books and paintings approaching the political through introspection to challenge notions of identity, while working in and with issues of post-communist Romania. Constantinescu grew up in Romania during the most austere years of communism, where an ordinary day began with a queue for almost anything (bread, shampoo, gas) - days of routine. As a result, his work is often strongly autobiographical. Within the work, monuments are challenged as permanent inscriptions of memory, fictional films resemble unofficial documentaries, and artist books challenge history and education. Known for his "powerful study of everyday terror" in his short film ''Troleibuzul 92'' that was shown in the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
2009 Recent work includes the painting series ''An Infinite Blue'', the pop up book ''The Golden Age for Children'', the film ''My Beautiful Dacia'' (co-directed with Julio Sotto) and the film ''Passagen''. Stefan is currently (2011) working on the curatorial project ''The Last Analog Revolution, a Memory Box'' together with Xandra Popescu, who creates film, text and video projects.


Works

In 2009 Stefan Constantinescu,
Andrea Faciu Andrea Faciu (born 1977 in Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 ...
and Ciprian Muresan submitted the project ''The Seductiveness of the Interval'' curated by
Alina Serban Alina is a feminine given name with multiple origins in different cultures. It might be a form of Aline, which originated as a shortened form of Adeline, meaning ''noble''. It has been used in Scotland as a feminine version of Alistair, the Scot ...
for the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
The project was selected to represent Romania at the Biennale, along with the films: ''Passagen'' and ''Troleibuzul 92''. That same year ''The Seductiveness of the Interval'' project was remade and exhibited at The Renaissance Society Museum in Chicago. In 2007, he had a solo show "Thank you for a Wonderful, Ordinary Day" at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest.


The Last Analog Revolution, a Memory Box

In his 2011 project with Xandra Popescu, Constantinescu is bringing together artists from Eastern and Western Europe. It reflects on the evolving concepts of revolution and geo-political division. The exhibition incorporates a cardboard installation with a series of video works by Hungarian artist
Péter Forgács Péter Forgács (born 10 September 1950) is a Hungarian media artist and independent filmmaker. He is best known for his "Private Hungary" series of award winning films based on home movies from the 1930s and 1960s, which document ordinary lives ...
, Poland's
Zuzanna Janin Zuzanna Janin, (born 1961) is a Polish visual artist and former teen actor. Janin lives and works in Warsaw and London. Janin has created sculpture, video, installation, photography and performatives. She used the names Zuzanna Baranowska (1990 ...
, UK-based collaborators Karen Mirza and Brad Butler, Lithuanian Deimantas Narkevičius and Switzerland's Yves Netzhammer, sound-work by Liliana Moro, a sculpture by Via Lewandowski and Constantinescu's own film ''My Beautiful Dacia''. The project will be exhibited at the 54th Venice Biennale in autumn, 2011. ''The Last Analog Revolution, a Memory Box'' functions within the framework of the project ''Romanian Cultural Resolution – documentary'' and will be exhibited at the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice. The Artist initially had intended "to base the project around a kind of interactive memory box, for which a selection of international artists were due to be invited to design an object referring to their Cold War experience of a divided Europe. This idea, however, proved financially and logistically difficult to achieve. Instead, Constantinescu and co-curator Xandra Popescu have selected existing works of art to exhibit in a group installation."


An Infinite Blue

''An Infinite Blue'' is a recent series of 24 paintings created in a style that is reminiscent of Socialist Realism. The title of the work is taken from the popular Romanian pop song sung by Angela Similea. This series was conceived by using images from archives made available after the fall of Communism. Constantinescu participated in the fourth
Bucharest Biennale The Bucharest Biennale (full name: ''Bucharest International Biennial for Contemporary Art'') is a contemporary art biennale held in Bucharest, Romania. History The first edition of the Bucharest Biennale was held in 2005, with the following one ...
with this series.


Troleibuzul 92

In 2009, Constantinescu represented Romania at The
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
, with the films Passagen and ''Troleibuzul 92'', which is an 8-minute film showing a man sitting down beside a female passenger on a trolleybus. Based on a witnessed incident, the realistic account reveals the man having a series of abusive phone calls with his wife, girlfriend or lover (who is on the opposite end of the line), filled with "cursing, accusations, and continuous threats of harm, even murder". As Chronicle Art Critic, Kenneth Baker puts it: the film shows the man "castigating her for making him jealous by being unreachable. He never raises his voice, but his reproaches quickly grow fierce to the point of obscenity... In the Eastern European setting of Constantinescu's piece, in the aftermath of generations under communist rule, uncertainty over the duties of citizenship must weigh heavily on individuals' minds." The surrounding passengers are visibly uncomfortable by these exclamations, yet nobody intervenes to stifle his threats - and in such "Constantinescu may be implying that they are accomplices."


The Golden Age for Children

''The Golden Age for Children'' is an interactive pop-up book "complete with pull tabs and 3D archival photos jumping out from every page" featuring the artists’ biography intertwined with highlights from the grand narrative of Romania's past, and pays specific attention to the period of Ceausescu's regime - known as ''The Golden Age''. The book, which is made in collaboration with the Swedish graphic designer Arina Stoenescu, creates a story which covers 20 years of Romanian contemporary history, beginning in 1968 (the year Stefan Constantinescu was born) and ends with the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
in 1989. For the reader of this children's book an uncanny quality emerges in the tension between the naïvety of the form and the dark surrealism of its content. Constantinescu created the work "in order to recount his experience – living under the regime of Ceausescu – to his son. In the process he encounters the challenge of telling the story and of passing on history to younger generations as he weaves text and photos from his own life with briefly stated historical facts in textbook form."


My Beautiful Dacia

''My Beautiful Dacia'' is a light-hearted portrayal of Romania's evolution from Communism to Capitalism, told through the story of its most emblematic symbol, the
Dacia automobile S.C. Automobile Dacia S.A., commonly known as Dacia (), is a Romanian car manufacturer that takes its name from Dacia, the historical region that constitutes present-day Romania. The company was established in 1966. In 1999, after 33 years, the ...
. The film, portrays different generations of Romanians – from the old and nostalgic to the young entrepreneurs – showing the present transformation of Romanian society. The connecting point between the different stories is the Dacia automobile: a symbol of the ambitious Communist technology and now a reflection of the new global economy. The film has had wide circulation in various Film Festivals. Created in 2009, “My Beautiful Dacia” was co-directed by Julio Sotto. After premiering at the
Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
led by
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
in 1973. All three ended up living under
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
’s dictatorship, and in time, two of them decided to emigrate to Sweden. Through the protagonists’ shared experiences, the film highlights touches on the distinct social structures of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. ''Passagen'' together with ''Troleibuzul 92'' and ''The Seductiveness of the Interval'' project, were the artworks Constantinescu showed at The
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
in 2009 representing Romania.


Complete list of works

* Archive of Pain, video installation, book, 2000 * Just what is it, photography series, 2000 * The Baron, video, 45′, 2002 * Dacia 1300, my Generation, 2003 * Passagen, film, 62′, 2005 * Northern Light, photography series & text, 2006 * The Golden Age for Children, pop-up book, 2008 * My Beautiful Dacia, documentary film, 2009 * Troleibuzul 92, film, 8’, 2009 * The Flag, 2010 * An Infinite Blue, painting series, painting, 2009–2010


Biography

The artist received his BA from Art University Bucharest in 1996 and his MA in 1998 from Royal Academy of Arts, Stockholm. Now he lives and works both Sweden and Romania. Stefan Constantinescu first gained attention with his Project ''Archive of Pain'' shown in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
and
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. It dealt with the "confessions of Romanian political prisoners from 1945–65" He rose to fame by representing Romania in the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
and the fourth
Bucharest Biennale The Bucharest Biennale (full name: ''Bucharest International Biennial for Contemporary Art'') is a contemporary art biennale held in Bucharest, Romania. History The first edition of the Bucharest Biennale was held in 2005, with the following one ...
with his installation'' An Infinite Blue''. His work is in the collections of Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création,
Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...
,
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai ...
, and the Malmö Museum of Contemporary Art. He has won the following prizes: 2010 Jury Award “Best International TV Documentary” for ''My Beautiful Dacia'' at The International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City, Mexico and Second Prize, jury award for My Beautiful Dacia, Documenta Madrid, Spania.


Selection of group exhibitions

Periferic 8 – Art as Gift, the eight, Biennale for Contemporary Art, Iași, Romania, 2008 The Map: Navigating the Present, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, 2008 The Social Critique 1993–2005 at the Kalmar Konstmuseum in Kalmar, Sweden, 2009 Dada East? Romanian Context of Dadaism at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Poland 2008 indirect speech at the Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany, 2006 All that remains ... Teenagers of Socialism at Waterside Project Space in London, United Kingdom, 2010, Phoney Language at the no.w.here studio in London, United Kingdom, 2010, Audience as a Subject at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary Contemporary art, contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that cel ...
in San Francisco,USA, 2010, C.o.n.t.r.a.v.i.o.l.e.n.c.i.a.s. at the Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, San Sebastian, Spain, 2010,Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea
Retrieved May, 2011


Notes


External links

* Artist Stefan Constantinescu'
website
* Artist represented b
waterside contemporary
London * Affiliated Artists in ''The Last Analog Revolution, a Memory Box'' project, websites
Xandra PopescuPéter ForgácsZuzanna JaninDeimantas NarkevičiusKaren Mirza and Brad Butler

The 54th Venice Biennale website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantinescu, Stefan 1968 births Living people Film people from Bucharest Romanian film directors Swedish people of Romanian descent