Vladimiro Izzo Gallery Gbr / Schumann Strasse 14/b D-10117 Berlin, (D)
12 june – 29 july 2010
Simona & Ciprian Homorodean
Curated by Jota Castro
Jota Castro conceived “Brothers and Sisters” with Ciprian and Simona Homorodean in mind. He relied on their tight family bond and on the intimate complicity that a shared upbringing is believed to breed. Reviving the freedom they knew as children, when inventing games with infinite possibilities, the artistic siblings agreed to build the project around the most noble of elements: Gold. Yet, while they use the same thread to weave the fabric of the exhibition, their specific patterns tend to appear, providing evidence that, if hereditary disposition plays a role in the formation of artistic personalities and fosters complementary approaches to art, it doesn’t necessarily circumscribe artistic vision into a single, unified expression.
The Romanian artists thus embarked upon a quest for gold. They could not afford to buy it, so they looked for a mine… which they found, although its nuggets vanished quickly from their hands. The notion, however, if not the real gold, would suffice for their purposes. They also found shit along the way, a providential find for, as everybody knows, excrement is transmutable into gold. Or art, no pun intended. Alfred Jarry, Piero Manzoni or Wim Delvoye, among others, could attest to this fact.
“Brothers and Sisters” is about gold, family, traditions, and religion; it’s about shit, about alcohol, about music… about power as well, and fame, luck, disenchantment, bitterness, joy. It is also about imagining solutions with resourcefulness or smecheria. These various elements and sources come into view in the presented works. Fowl shit, for example, is the principal component in Ciprian’s Rachia din Cacat, an alcoholic beverage with magical properties. Shit is also at the base of his sister’s cooking in Sweet Moments, dung cakes made to reveal the darkest aspects of beauty. The art is to be found in the recipes, of course. Eat, drink, dance and be merry, even if it’s short-lived, as in a wedding party: Bride (Misstake), wedding band (For Sale), and church (Forgiveness of the Sins) provided by Simona. Venue (Cipriano Bar) and event specific music furnished by her brother. The self proclaimed Prince of Manele* dedicates his first album “Sunt Artist, Am Valoare” (I’m a valuable Artist) to his stakeholders and collectors. For those who have not yet found them or are otherwise experiencing financial difficulties, there is Ciprian’s manual of survival strategies (Take the Book, Take the Money…Run!), a Crisis special with original tips for making it through economic hardships.
Considered individually, the works offer a glance into the personal cosmos of the artists. Together, they compose a larger picture, a view of the narrative behind the facts, of its intention and its targets. By dislocating the face value of stereotypes through their (mis)appropriation or by forcing them into a double bind, Simona and Ciprian construct a setting for, simultaneously, their feisty celebration and their merciless kill.
