Marius Bercea

Marius Bercea’s paintings draw on both memory and myth. For the last two decades, Bercea has been making large-scale oil paintings which tussle out the social and psychological aftereffects of the Romanian Revolution. Examining the fallout of the Iron curtain and the subsequent rise of capitalism in his home country, Bercea tracks both the public and private cultural shifts this political upheaval continues to bring about. Working with his signature fluid brushstrokes, charged colour palette and impasto texture, Bercea has painted urban imposing architectural scenes; he has tenderly rendered quieter pastoral tableaux and his portraits range from highly stylized vignettes in his studio, to more intimate, vulnerable portrayals of his immediate circle. Although the subject matter and tone of his paintings noticeable shifts with each body of work, this sense of deep cultural inspection remains. Echoing the diverse content of his paintings, Bercea has a wide plethora of sources he draws on for inspiration. The theatrical film sets of Derek Jarman left an imprint on the artist, as did the Nabi painters of fin de siècle Paris, Blake Edward’s 1968 filmic farce The Party and the compositional traits of Dutch painting. These disparate references surface in Bercea’s cacophonous visual language, as he continues to trace the intricacies of contemporary Romania.