RESIDENT ARTIST :: Alexandru Darida

ARTIST STATEMENT
Alexandru Darida

      
    "If painting is the clearest and most accurate mirror of a given period, the artist has to be able to constantly go through a metamorphosis. Merging elements of abstract sculptural forms or "found objects" with classic painting technique, I strive to portray the unrepresentable in representable form, creating a fresh forward style. I am thinking beyond the flat surface of the canvas, constantly evolving spaces and forms, generating fields of energy and reducing things to their essence. Music and art have always gone hand in hand in my life. The expression of sound, form and vision in a very simple minimalist way is my approach in my latest paintings."

BIOGRAPHY:

The childhood of painter Alexandru Darida sounds more like something from a fairy tale than from reality. Born to an Italian father and Romanian mother, he grew up amidst breathtaking medieval castles in a small town in Transylvania, Romania, the region famous as the birthplace of the Dracula legend. The romantic imagery of his youth and his father's love of art provided the framework for his own artistic endeavors.

After graduating from the Ecole de Belle Art, Darida began his full-time artistic career as the Official Portrait Painter to the Communist President of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu. He had no artistic freedom, was limited to painting what the government told him to paint and was denied permission to paint anything else. Although his work for President Ceausescu brought him success in his homeland, he felt overwhelmed by the restrictions imposed upon him. He realized that he would have to escape the tyranny of communism in order to pursue his artistic passion.

After a courageous escape to Italy, Darida was determined to pursue his new-found artistic freedom. He enrolled at the Benedetti Liberal Academy of Art in Rome and traveled extensively around Western Europe, finding inspiration in the works of Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Modigliani. Eventually, tired of being pursued by the Romanian government and with the help of the Mayor of Rome who was an admirer of Darida's art and shared the same family name, he immigrated to the United States where he finished his education at the Academy of Art in Chicago.

Darida's museum placements include the Powerhouse Museum and the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.  His work has been featured at Municipal Galleries across Romania, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, and the Museum of Art in Bucharest, Romania. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Formello-Roma International Prize for Painting, and the Award for Excellence in the Multimedia Miniatures Show in Romania.

For information about Alexandru Darida's work, please call REpose Gallery:  
312-321-1001, or e-mail reposegallery@rivereastartcenter.com