‘Prospective’ by Dan Raul Pintea
‘Prospective’ by Dan Raul Pintea Exhibition Launch January 22nd @ 6pm until 8pm Steambox Gallery from January 23rd – February 1st. Tuesday - Sunday 12pm – 5pm Curated by Jennette Donnelly We put so much emphasis and time into what we believe to be mindfulness and it’s pursuit that we fall down in finding it’s actual message. We practice Tai Chi in the lush surroundings of a nearby park and give up after three sessions because a) it’s too cold, b) our specially purchased clothing really does not fit the bill, or c) we believe that we have fully mastered mindfulness and it’s time for chips. Books on Reiki, Yoga and Feng Shui gather dust and barely have their spines broken but look impressive on the coffee table and provide an interesting conversation starter when pointing out a perfectly positioned lamp. New Year resolutions come and go with initial well-meant intentions and ferocious attempts but gradually succumb to a coronation street-fueled haze. We are spoon fed destination guides, but the journey should be what we seek. Dan Raul Pintea has created a visual striving to capture the essence of mindfulness represented by the prism of perfection that is a rainbow. Never ceasing to amaze and create awe wherever it appears, the rainbow has long stood as a representative in Irish mythology as the pathway to richness and gold, guarded greedily by the Leprechaun. Society has bred the notion that we must ‘keep up with the Jones’s', live to work and strive to find the pot of gold waiting invitingly at the end of the rainbow. Making money is our mantra, we toil, slave and die for it, all the while missing precious moments in our lives, the fleeting instances in the tangled web of time.
Mindfulness in Buddhism teaches awareness of one’s body, mind and feelings. Being completely present, in the present. Pintea has created work which carries the beautiful moments of the past into the present and looks towards the future. Family memories are inter-dispersed with delicate drawings and imagery containing hints of a chakra-like spectrum of colour. These hints of colour representing the need for attune awareness, a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ reference to our beloved rainbow. After all, if we are not completely aware in our present, we will never notice the rainbow. Dan Raul Pintea (b.1981) is a Romanian artist. In 2004 he graduated fine arts at the University of Arts and Design from Cluj Napoca (RO), were he also sustained his MA in 2006. Since 2007 Pintea has exhibited at Ivan Gallery (RO), 26 Gallery (RO), Anca Poterasu Gallery (RO), Victoria Art Centre (RO), Sala Dalles (RO), Trypthycon (DE), 115 Gallery (RO), Visual Kontakt (DE), Program Gallery (PL) Pavilion (RO) and Studiobruck (RO) In 2010 – 2013 was represented by Anca Potersau Gallery, with whom he participated to Preview Berlin, The Emerging Art Fair from Berlin, in 2011. He lives and works in Sibiu.
‘Prospective’ runs at Steambox Gallery from January 23rd – February 1st. Tuesday - Sunday 12pm – 5pm Exhibition Launch January 22nd @ 6pm until 8pm
Curated by Jennette Donnelly
Sponsored by Bavaria and Inov8 printing
In Colaboration with Black Box
