WIN Gallery invites you to Daniela Grapă's new exhibition - “Passions of the Soul” - a tribute to the universal and deeply personal search of sense and self.
We all talk about the soul. Much and often. We do important things and we are even capable of sacrifice for the sake of the soul -our own and that of others. The irony is that if we were asked, we could neither tell what it is, nor where it is, what it's made of or what it looks like.
The essence and place of the soul have long intrigued, inspired and tormented man. Its immateriality and mutable nature escape narrow definitions. It only leaves one speculating about this ultimate archive of intellectual and sentimental states. Memory and morality, conscience and connection to the world of absolutes, this enigma is passed on from one generation to the next. What rationality cannot access, art reveals, condenses and preserves.
"Passions of the Soul", Daniela Grapă's new personal painting exhibition follows the voyage from the origins of existence to the complexities of life to what lies beyond it. The human condition is explored though two sets of lenses: that of spirituality anchored in Western culture and that of the abstract as the vehicle to deconstruct and restructure image and belief. The act of creation fluidly passes from the divine to human realm, mirroring each other.
Marinela Mantescu-Isac, the curator of this exhibition, has organized the viewer's passage through the gallery in line with these two coordinates of Daniela Grapa’s introspective process. In the opening section, the focus falls on the figurative elements, which include Christian iconography, nudes and (self) portraits. In the adjoining areas, abstract works approach themes ranging from the beginnings of the world to paradisical visions. Together, they provide points of departure and reference for outlining the imago mundi.
The title of the current exhibition - Passions of the Soul - is a homage not only to the numerous philosophers and theologians who engaged in pursuing answers, from Aristotle to Saint Augustine and Descartes but a tribute to the things that unify us all. Independent of our cultural mark or the profession we choose, the intensity of our emotions along with the search for sense and self are universal.
With this exhibition, WIN Gallery continues to bring forth subjects of relevance to a diverse audience and seeks to promote meaningful dialogue and analysis of the ways we relate to one another. As Bohumil Hrabal, the Czech writer concluded: "The skies may not be human but there is something more human than the skies, the compassion and love that we forgot and lost". This exhibition is one open door that leads to them.
Cristian Pascu -Patron of the Arts
Irina Stoenescu - Chairlady
Catalin Gurita-Manole - Director of Experience
