Woman Unchained

About

Irina Greciuhina (b. 1982) is a Moldovan artist based in Chisinau. In her artistic practice she is interested in "study of female archetypes", perceiving women as "a unique, divine and natural phenomenon". Her paintings were exhibited, among others, in Venice, where she made a real splash, but for the first time she exhibits her works in Romania presenting her solo show in September in the exhibition space Arbor.art.room (str. Transilvaniei, no. 11, sector 1, Bucharest ).

There are two important and unique details of this exhibition:

First of all, the attempt to integrate in the Romanian cultural space the artists from the Republic of Moldova, building a strong dialogue between the Moldovan-Romanian community. It is the main objective of the Arbor.Art.Room led by Moldovan Maecenas and art collector Victoria Nagy Vajda.
Themes and means of artistic expression don't belong to any nation, they are Universal. Irina tells about her art: "I am deliberately trying to destroy stereotypes about our local artists, showing that Moldovan art not necessarily has to deal with national motifs, images of the Moldovan village, traditional ornament or nostalgia for Soviet times. First of all my works represent my reflection and my vision on the whole World”.

Secondly, the impressive thing in the Irina’s artworks is the predilection for female situations and motives captured in the most diverse and dreamy poses. Of course, the artist's approach is well integrated into the broader paradigm of 21st century feminism (the "second sex" conquest of all power, including political and cultural). However, Greciuhina rejects any "group" or ideological "props" that she finds unnecessary for her art. "Women are situated at the center of my compositions and at the heart of my personal World. But I don’t want my works to be seen only through the prism of feminism, they don’t belong to certain frames and patterns", says the artist. In other words, "de la musique (l'art) avanttoute chose", as Verlaine's "poetic art" suggested.

"Woman in chains" is a line from the ‘80s song by the band Tears for Fears, it’s so distant from us both politically and ideologically now. "Woman Unchained" is the title of Irina Greciuhina's solo show in Bucharest. It’s stipulated also by Tarantino's "Django Unchained" - by which the American director did nothing but update the Shelleyan saying ("Prometheus Unbound"). There are so many references relevant this topic: the "victory (emancipation) of the slave", the "(Freudian) return of the repressed", or "woman is the nigger of the world", as Lennon had brilliantly said.

However, in her works Irina didn’t choose the violent pro-feminist approach ("SCUM Manifesto", manifesto of penis cutting, by Valeria Solanas). Her "unleashing" is in fact an explosion of vitality and femininity, a celebration of the joy of living. It is a hymn to the beauty of life, similar to the one at the end of the film "Les nuits fauves" (1992) by the French Cyril Collard. Her women are independent and free, each telling her own story.

The vernissage of the exhibition will take place at 19:00 on the 10th of September.
The exhibition will be on view till the 11 of October. It will be also available in VR on website: https://www.theopen-art.com

Curatorial text: Doinel Tronaru.