Laurențiu Ruță. ”I think that in Romania the '60s generation trained the '70s generation and they both made the exception '80s (generation!) possible. All of them had their own access to the American resource.”

 Laurențiu Ruță, b. 1955, artist


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

1968-69 Art documentary screenings at the University of Timișoara.

1970 American art and architecture documentary screenings at the Timișoara Arts High School.

1975/76 Hans Hartung, film screened at the Matei House, ”Ion Andreescu” Visual Arts Institute, Cluj-Napoca.

198? Le Corbusier exhibition at the Cluj-Napoca Museum of Art. 

1979 Exhibition of American technical museums at the Cluj-Napoca Museum of Art; the designer Alexandru Ghildus was one of the exhibition guides. 

197? American Photorealism painting exhibition in Bucharest.

1971-72-? American painting exhibition at the Timișoara Museum of Art.

197? American Architecture exhibition at the Timișoara Museum of Art. 

197? American Architecture exhibition at the Cluj-Napoca Museum of Art.

1986 International graphics triennale in Krakow, Poland.

1986 International poster triennale in Warsaw, Poland. 

The years and titles are approximations. Googling them, I haven't found references, posters, catalogues, works, etc. from any of these exhibitions. Research should be done in the museum archives. I tried in Timișoara, but haven't managed to access the sources. 


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

In Romania and Poland. 


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

Pop art, kinetic art, op art, Dada, American Bauhaus, happenings, installations, action painting, land art, etc.


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?

Please compare it with the influence of European art or art from communist spaces.

Mircea Malita gave the Timișoara Art School free reign to continue the experimentation that started in the studios of the 111 and Sigma groups. Between 1971 and 1974 (I am part of the '74 generation of that school), Constantin Flondor was headmaster and led a group of seven students (we were student-pupils!!!), myself among them. Every assignment we got as part of this group was a challenge and a new beginning. You can see them in his books and in our works. There's a whole sack of works waiting for me in the attic back home, in Biled, that I haven't opened in fifty years. I'm anxiously waiting to unpack that archive. Just a few weeks ago I pulled some old film photographs out of the archive and scanned them, also after fifty years. This is how some of our works came to be; - and we were just young pupils (wet behind the ears!). It's just that fortune smiled on us!


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

Of course!


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. 


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

They had no choice! There were ongoing negotiations to open up international relations between the two countries. 


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

Yes and no. Artists had the chance to own their own actions. They could exercise their own discretion (a term used by Yolanda Eminescu!).


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?

I think that in Romania the '60s generation trained the '70s generation and they both made the exception '80s (generation!) possible. All of them had their own access to the American resource. 


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