The artist Serban Savu presents for the first time works done in other technique than painting in his show “Behind the Walls” hosted by Laika Cluj. The two exhibited mosaics are different from one another but complementary at the same time. The small-sized one (“Ring Road” – 33 x 40 cm) depicts a prostitute on the road and the second one (“Labour Protection” – 144 x 180 cm) a nowadays worker breaking the pavement with a pick hammer.
The references to the history of art, to roman mosaics (“Ring Road”) and to communist mosaics respectively (“Labour Protection”) are obvious. But the two works are neither mural nor pavemental, they don’t have a decorative function and are not meant for the exterior space, but they are “object mosaics” destined for the interior space.
Both mosaics depict “anti-heroes”, characters from the edge of the society, that “New Man” created in the ideological lab of a failed historical project. They are characters that are looking for meaning in a changing landscape, faceless, with no identity, symbols for a hybrid social category.
As a starting point, the mosaic technique that Serban Savu uses is of classical inspiration (roman-byzantine), but the result is an image with a digital feeling, an image decomposed into basic colours following the computer science principles.
Artistul Serban Savu prezinta pentru prima data lucrari realizate intr-un alt mediu decat cel al picturii in cadrul expozitiei sale “In spatele zidurilor” de la Laika Cluj. Cele doua mozaicuri expuse sunt diferite intre ele, dar complementare. Unul este de dimensiuni reduse (“Soseaua de centura” - 33x50 cm) si reprezinta o prostituata la sosea, iar cel de-al doilea (“Protectia muncii” - 144x180 cm), un muncitor din zilele noastre care sparge pavajul cu un ciocan pneumatic.
Referintele la istoria artei, respectiv la mozaicurile din perioada romana (“Soseaua de centura”) si la cele din perioada comunista (“Protectia muncii”) sunt evidente. Insa cele doua lucrari nu sunt mozaicuri murale sau pavimentale, nu au functie decorativa si nu sunt destinate spatiului exterior, ci sunt doua “mozaicuri obiect” destinate spatiului interior.
Ambele mozaicuri reprezinta antieroi, personaje de la marginea societatii, acel “om nou” produs in laboratoarele ideologice ale unui proiect istoric esuat. Sunt personaje care isi cauta rostul intr-un peisaj in plina transformare. Sunt oameni fara chip, fara identitate, emblematici pentru o categorie sociala hibrid.
Ca punct de plecare, tehnica mozaicului pe care o foloseste Serban Savu este de inspiratie clasica (romano-bizantina), insa rezultatul este o imagine care are o nota digitala, e o imagine descompusa in culorile de baza dupa principii informatice.
The artist Serban Savu presents for the first time works done in other technique than painting in his show “Behind the Walls” hosted by Laika Cluj. The two exhibited mosaics are different from one another but complementary at the same time. The small-sized one (“Ring Road” – 33 x 40 cm) depicts a prostitute on the road and the second one (“Labour Protection” – 144 x 180 cm) a nowadays worker breaking the pavement with a pick hammer.
The references to the history of art, to roman mosaics (“Ring Road”) and to communist mosaics respectively (“Labour Protection”) are obvious. But the two works are neither mural nor pavemental, they don’t have a decorative function and are not meant for the exterior space, but they are “object mosaics” destined for the interior space.
Both mosaics depict “anti-heroes”, characters from the edge of the society, that “New Man” created in the ideological lab of a failed historical project. They are characters that are looking for meaning in a changing landscape, faceless, with no identity, symbols for a hybrid social category.
As a starting point, the mosaic technique that Serban Savu uses is of classical inspiration (roman-byzantine), but the result is an image with a digital feeling, an image decomposed into basic colours following the computer science principles.
