Dorel Găină. ”American art and culture had particular importance on the art scene, especially pop art sequences, American abstract expressionism, American hyperrealism, bad painting.”

 Dorel Găină, b. 1953, artist

1. What American art exhibitions did you see between 1965 and 1989?

I only visited two of them. In Oradea, where I lived, no such exhibition took place physically, and while I was a student in Cluj they hadn't gotten there either. In 1975 or 1976, I visited the American Photography exhibition in Sibiu. There was a large group of us, students in industrial esthetics and interior arts at the "Ion Andreescu" Visual and Decorative Arts Institute (now the Cluj-Napoca University of Art and Design). We were all passionate about photography as well, in general and about artistic photography specifically. The visit had a remarkable impact and an essential contribution to our development and our passionate practice of photography, especially artistic photography. Before '89 or just after, I can't quite remember, I went to visit the American Cinematography exhibition myself, with great focus, in Bucharest at the Dalles Hall/Gallery. It was an important exhibition for me. 

2. Between 1965 and 1989, did you see American art in Romania or abroad?

In the flesh, I got the chance to see American art in Oradea at the Criș Country Museum. I was there at the opening too. It was sometime after the mid '80s (probably and plausibly 1987 or 1988). It was an exhibition by two contemporary American sculptors (from the United States). Massive, bronze, figuratively synthetic sculptures that combined a mirroring of Native American characters with an expressive treatment particular to modern and contemporary sculpture. The two sculptors also attended the opening, as well as staff from the American embassy, headed by the American ambassador himself. A lot of folks from Oradea attended as well. There were many local artists and almost all the members of the Oradean Studio 35. Members of State Security were also present. We knew the Security officer responsible for cultural affairs. After the formal speeches came the complimentary cocktails. The atmosphere was relaxed. At one point, a group of young artists from Studio 35 gathered around the American ambassador and got talking to him. I stood to one side and noticed how X, the culture Security officer, also saw the young artists talking to the ambassador. He locked eyes with a colleague of ours from Studio 35 from across the room. He gestured for her to come over to him. She complied. In a hurry. X whispered something in her ear. So she rushed to the group talking to the American ambassador, joined the group, and started eavesdropping. That's how I found out which one of us was a Security informer.

3. Which American artists and what American approaches/trends/styles interested you at the time?

So many! Of the visual artists, I have to mention Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Franck Stella, as well as the classics of American architecture and design. From photography, there's a wide variety, from the classics Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, to the photo-reportages of the great publications or independents, to those who were seen as practicing artistic photography like Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann. 

4. What position did American art and visual culture have in the artistic milieu you frequented at the time; was it a topic of conversation, was it influential?

Yes! American art and culture had particular importance on the art scene, especially pop art sequences, American abstract expressionism, American hyperrealism, bad painting. But I think it was on par, in interest and information, with Western art in general, from sections of art history, to those of acute actuality, and with Japanese art. Additionally, there was information on contemporary art from socialist spaces, especially Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. 

American exhibition were particularly important, as well as the American library, and, of course, Sinteza Magazine, edited by the American embassy (?) or some other American institution. I don't remember which. It was accompanied by Prisma Magazine, which belonged to the West-German embassy, and by magazines from the Eastern socialist block: Project - in Polish, and Muveszet - in Hungarian for the Western part of the country.

Catalogues were very important through their content, information, but also form and design, they were true albums of American exhibitions that, one way or another, one of us managed to get a hold of. For me, as an artist, the catalogues of the exhibitions American Graphics (which I never got to see in person) and American Photography (which I did get the chance to attend, as I mentioned) were especially important. As a designer, I was struck by the catalogues of Industrial Esthetics in the USA, American Architecture, and American Agriculture. As a niche, but significant fact, my friend Andrei Groza, who was an arts high school graduate, wore a pin from the US graphics exhibition for years. 

There were passionate discussions about American art and culture, both in isolation and in tandem with Western or socialist art, between friends and/or colleagues as early as high school and all the way through college and after graduation, and in various circles, from the artistic and cultural, to the most random.

5. Retrospectively, do you think that American art and visual culture were a decisive factor in your development as an artist/theoretician?

Yes! And I'm noticing that this decisiveness was facilitated by the excellent quality of conceptual design and execution of the exhibitions, especially by the fantastic graphics promotion program and the exceptional catalogues. They had short, but comprehensive texts in simple and direct language, but not at the expense of conceptual content. I would like to mention and praise the excellent Sinteza Magazine. 

6. Did the American art exhibitions organized in Romania during that period contribute decisively in this sense, or did the information you had about American art and visual culture in general contribute more to this impact?

Both aspects you brought up in the question were very important. I think the mix of excellent concept and execution of the two in the package of exhibitions and catalogues was fantastic, as well as in the aforementioned Sinteza magazine. But let us not forget about the extraordinary contributions of the radio stations Voice of America and Free Europe in informing, presenting, promoting, and commenting on American and worldwide artistic and cultural aspects. 

7. Do you remember whether the presentation and reception of American art and visual culture were encouraged by the communist regime?

Having no direct information to go on except my personal feeling and observations, I think that the communist regime after 1965, willingly or not (for reasons of real or feigned independence from Soviet totalitarianism, elective affinities, political machinations, economic reasons etc.), encouraged or accepted/permitted a true American cultural offensive: Hollywood cinema, American literature, pop, jazz, blues, country, varieties of rock, etc. The attempts to curtail this influence, the visible ones at least, through quantity and quality in '70 and '71 and, later, after '80 (periods when there were attempted ideological Ceaușist, anti-Western counteroffensives, which I personally describe as attempts to raise another curtain against the free world, but, in typical Romanian fashion, only served to raise a tinfoil curtain full of holes) all failed or, who knows?, were sabotaged by Party and Security organs themselves.

8. Was being a sympathizer of American art esthetically/ideologically/politically risky?

Not necessarily! But I know of cases when it was deadly or some of the more exultant or excessively visible/vocal sympathizers were randomly subjected to questioning or interviews by Security, ranging from soft to hard.

9. Retrospectively, do you think the influence of American art and visual culture on Romanian art and visual culture between 1965 and 1989 contributed to the transformation/development of Romanian culture and society? If so, in what way?

Yes! Let us not forget about the Romanian contribution as well, like the XXth Century magazine or even Art magazine in, most importantly, presenting aspects of contemporary American art and culture. Until the July Theses of 1971, national radio and TV also contributed to this. The most important offensive vectors presenting and promoting American culture and art have to do, in my opinion, with the intelligence and good management of the American presence. The kind of accessibility, summarized and unsophisticated information, and the conceptual and executional design of these vectors: exhibitions, catalogues, the easily accessible Sinteza magazine, and the American library, which was slightly less accessible to those in other parts of the country as opposed to Bucharest residents. 

P.S.: Let us not forget that in the '60s, '70s, and part of the '80s the library of the "Ion Andreescu" Visual and Decorative Arts Institute (currently the Cluj-Napoca University of Art and Design) was subscribed, among other American and Western publications, to Art in America (USA), Aperture (USA), Jardin des Artes (France), Beaux Artes (France), Domus (Italy), Graphis (Switzerland), Camera (Switzerland), Gebrausgrafik (Germany). These, and all the magazines I didn't name, were freely accessible to all students and professors. 

Let us not forget of the limited, but possible access to a whole range of American or Western publications; a joy to me and also very important were National Geographic, Geo, and Paris Match, which I would buy from used book stores or borrow from friends who had subscriptions, or their parents did, or would buy them from the designated places where they were sold on a limited basis, as well as Cree, a French design magazine I got a subscription for from a family friend who was a French citizen... from France. 

Because of age-induced amnesia at my 70 years of age, it is possible that some years or names are not exactly right, so I ask the MARe staff to correct these answers in notes with the correct years and names for the American exhibitions. 

G+G, aka. Găină Dorel... in case it's relevant for preserving the answers... and... Prof. PhD.

April 16th 2023