Art Encounters 2017 Exhibitions:
That Obscure Object of Desire

Smaranda Ursuleanu (b. 1995) is a graduate of the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design in Iași (UNAGE, specializing in Mural Art). In 2016, she was awarded an Erasmus+ scholarship at Novia University of Applied Sciences, Fine Arts Program (Jakobstad, Finland). Smaranda renders stereotypes and social taboos concerning identity and sexuality in subversive, usually feminist visual representations, multiplied and transposed in space through various techniques.

Selected exhibitions: The Second Deflowering [A Doua Deflorare], MERU Gallery, Iași (2017, solo), micro-NARAȚIUNI [micro-NARRATIONS], 1 + 1 and tranzit.ro/Iași (2017); Libidoland, Aparte Gallery, Iași (2017).

The transition from the deepest private of the female body to the almost sacral maximal exposure is at the core of Ursuleanu’s work. She uses the imprint of her vulva on numerous small paper cards to create an environmental self-portrait that challenges taboos of Romanian society. Each card is unique and their juxtaposition evokes the accumulation of the artist’s experiences over time and confronts us with the troubling question of voyeurism.

Images:

1.Smaranda Ursuleanu, Portrait

2.Smaranda Ursuleanu, Tapet vulvatic [Vulvatic Wallpaper] (2017), body printing, acrylic on paper, approx. 6 x 10 cm