Nearly a century, the University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca has been committed to providing a dynamic artistic education, covering three distinct developmental periods in history. During this time, numerous influential figures contributed to the evolution and success of the school, establishing a rich tradition that began in 1925 with the School of Fine Arts. These exchanges and influences were defining factors for the development of a consistent artistic practice.

At the beginning of the 2000s, a remarkable group appeared, which outlined an artistic direction in full growth, signalling and placing Cluj in the art world. An aura of mystery materializes and forms around this group of artists, an aura that creates a specific Eastern Europe atmosphere. These distinctive images and feelings draw a path that transcends the borders and creates external connections. 

The renowned Italian artist, Alfredo Pirri indicates in an interview published in Artribune in 2020, the fact that the chromatic palette of Cluj painters and the atmospheric climate are enhanced by a tone of grey. ,,...In the vast majority of cases, the colour is never pure, but through melange, everything turns to grey. Yellow does not blind, red does not hurt, and blue is not impenetrable. That grey attracts like a magnet, it is neither light nor dark, it consists of an attractive mass and tastes like oil.” 

The way things are shaping up after this point makes us wonder how much of this generation's success and mystery is truth and how much is fiction?

Because things have grown organically and the forms of expression are diverse, the next generations are shaping an interdisciplinary practice with an emphasis on experiments and breaking traditional boundaries. Still strongly rooted, grey is now accompanied by violent tones, accidental gestures that break the monotony, authentic searches and visions.

The core that connects the recent generations is the aspiration towards the discovery of new art forms, the fusion of technology with the traditional, the creation of iconic images, by studying one's own experience. But this core is not estranged from the grey tone, a tone that is already rooted in the collective memory.

 Interview published in Artribune magazine, September 11, 2020, translation from Italian by Virgil Mihaiu