Dan Maciuca’s expressive and dynamic compositions oscillate between figuration and abstraction. The Romanian artist’s central theme is the deconstruction of past and present realities through the force of pictorial gestures, originating from a reaction to 20th-century political and social ideologies, in particular Communism.
Maciuca examines this dichotomy through the transformation of utopian sceneries. Depictions of brutalist architecture are stirred up and set into motion by sweeping brushstrokes, interspersed with swirls and outbursts of colour.
Maciuca’s canvases bear references to his home country’s twisted and problematic history, swept aside by a desire for movement and change. While many of the artist’s compositions are drenched with the invigorating energy of potential renewal, his urban landscapes possess the ambivalent beauty of post-apocalyptic settings, subliminally chiming with the feeling we get looking at our towns and cities at the moment.