CHIFAN CATALIN ALEXANDRU

Award-winning artist, Chifan Catalin Alexandru, weaves together beguiling characters and mythical places ostensibly on stage for all to witness. In his fascinating body of work Alexandru weaves relationships between each element and character, as they work in concert to realize a loosely defined mythic narrative. Every painting has a story to tell, charming audiences to dwell on each piece to discover and interpret the unfolding events. Stylistically Alexandru was influenced by the surrealism of Salvador Dali and the imaginative portraiture of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, while developing his own personal artistic language. His canvases are packed with nuance and his handling of paint is sensitive, with delicate chiaroscuro and distinctive facial and body characteristics. Very often Alexandru will use animals or amorphous characters as the protagonists, reinforcing the conceptual distance between his illusory world and our everyday reality. His paintings are warm and friendly, yet remain mysterious, giving the impression that we have walked into a theater but the play was already in progress, the plot very much underway. It is this relationship between audience and artwork that has endeared so many to Alexandru’s paintings.

His work has been exhibited throughout his native Romania as well as in Spain, Argentina, France, Tunisia and the United States.

Chifan Catalin Alexandru, Romania