Recuperating and confronting the spectrum of significations of chiaro-oscuro as a visual experience with what it means for our human consciousness as actors in the social space is at stake in this project. It is a diary where light and darkness, hope and despair, joy but also anxieties zones of our humanity are discernible in white(s) and black(s).

On one hand it is an analysis focused on the interest for this type of value contrast, a tint or clear molding of shadows and light, degradation of the atmosphere perspective, various types of objects’ enlightenments or formal and informal creation of spaces, creation of mystery of shadows and secrecy of darkness, arbitrary lightening as opposed to accepting light as it falls naturally, etc.On the other hand, beyond the graphic and painting technique in itself consisting of gradual and clear representations of shadows and light, technique perfected in the 16th century, chiaro-oscuro offers today, more than ever, a wide array of opportunities at the level of significations in expressing the “clear” and “obscure” contemporary realities. In this framework, as the connotations of chiaro-oscuro overpass the rigid borders of art, the project could be perceived as an attempt of a semiotic approach. The metaphorical, mystical, social loads of the term transcend the borders of art pointing to the shadows and lights of our contemporary lives.

A world without boundary lines, a world of contrasts…is it not the world we are living in? Translated into the everyday space, the claire-obscure technique takes second place, its potential of social and cultural significations being of prime topicality. Chiaro-oscuro becomes a manner of artistic (re)definition of a world that is doubtful, undecided, always looking for something and somebody, a world of those from the margins, from the periphery, those in search of or running from “light”. The chiaro-oscuro of the 21st century becomes thus for the artist, more than ever, a way of participating to the public discourses, to be present, take attitude, protest, revolt and not only demonstrate artistic abilities and ambitions.

(Text by Petru Lucaci)

Petru Lucaci (b. 1956, Arad) is a visual artist, curator, and cultural manager. He lives in Bucharest, Romania where he is currently a professor at the National University of Arts, president of the Union of Artists in Romania, and director of the Arta Journal. Exhibitions include Petru Lucaci, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2024, solo); Disembodying the body, Ilfoveanu & Badea Cultural Foundation, Pitești (2023, solo); About black, National Museum of Art, Chisinau, Moldavia (2022, solo); About black, National Museum Complex, Palace of Culture, Iași (2022, solo); Diptych—monochrome materialities, C. Brâncuși Gallery, New York (2022, solo); Chiaroscuro, Art Museum, Craiova (2022, solo); Diptych, material-scapes, Leilei Gallery, Bucharest (2021, solo); Diptych, clarobscur, Leilei Gallery, Bucharest (2020, solo); Material-scapes, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (2020, solo); Escaping our darkness, Fondazione Vittorio Leonesio, Pugneago del Garda, Brescia (2018, solo); 10+, The Center for Visual Art, Bucharest (2013); The water colour exhibition, Simeza Gallery, Bucharest (2013); The city, Victoria Art Center, Bucharest (2013); Trans-realities, Oudin Espace Contemporaine Gallery, Paris (2011); Art embodied, The Romanian Cultural Institute, London (2011); Reflections, Gammelgaard Gallery, Herlev, Copenhagen (2010, solo); and Ecrits/Est cris, Paul Amarica Gallery, Paris (2010).