Substrat - art review by Sînziana Maria,Stănese ITA, 2nd year

Urban nightlife is a vital space to shed inhibitions. This being said, 12 upcoming artists from the graphics department of the University of Arts and Design Cluj are ready to show you how life is lived in our city after dark. The exhibition Substrat is opened at the H33 Social Innovation Hub on 33 Horea Street in Cluj Napoca Romania between May 20th — May 27th 2019. The space is well know for hosting not only art related shows but also unconventional parties and social gatherings for the young creative minds around town. It is the first group exhibition for these second year students that have worked for almost two years now to polish their printing and engraving techniques.

The show is located in a humid basement, but has a special aspect that immediately impacts the viewer: the dim but very well-placed light sources. In this way, the beauty and the grotesque of the exhibition are revealed in a very theatrical manner. The dark environment and the warmth of the light add a mysterious yet poetic feel to the exhibition and although it all seems staged, the works of art look really natural together. And this is why the show is good, because of the perfect manner in which the art, the lighting and the exhibition site complement each other, creating this otherworldly, almost magical atmosphere. But it is dark magic we are talking about here, because the artworks are in no way spreading optimistic fairy tale vibes. The exhibition talks about solitude, degradation, today's subcultures and their superficial and nefarious ways. The pieces tend to ironically depict all the previously mentioned aspects and show the viewer how the millennials’ typical lifestyle unfolds itself layer by layer right before our eyes.

Therefore, the whole layer by layer motif creates the narrative of this whole show. All the works require a deeper analysis in order to fully understand them. They are all metaphors that tend to look playful or even clumsy but actually unveil an unfiltered truth of our society. 

One of the best artworks is called Detron by Lucian Barbu. It is one of the highlights of the main room being placed in the middle, directly under the spotlight. Essentially, it depicts a destroyed throne made out of roughly 300 bottles of beer, where each individual bottle has an original silkscreen printed label. The labels are supposed to describe in a funny yet satirical way the complicated and challenging life of the nowadays student. This artwork, placed in the basement, looks like a gem in a mine. Its vivid shine and considerable size make it look like the throne of some fallen nightlife emperor. It is eye catching and the labels are hilarious, a great asset to the show.

Another special yet more discreet work comes from artist Adela Aldea called Izolare. It shows a series of 10 A3 cold needle etchings of her classmates. The pieces are subtle and delicate, being placed on the inner sides of the arcade’s piers. The placing, somehow hidden,  translates into a beautiful metaphor, in which the artists are the ones living in the shadows, the true “pillars” of this exhibition. Aldea also brings up a more sensitive topic concerning the isolation and emptiness of the artist's persona in comparison to his flamboyant art. This enriches the viewers 'experience by diversifying the range of their emotions, another plus of this show, in my opinion. 

Having said that, the whole exhibition is a very fresh, unfiltered experience of our contemporary culture, narrated by young artists in a dynamic and humorous manner. If sarcasm and irony tickle your sense of humor, if you are not afraid of a deeper and sincerer understanding of yourself and the world around, then come to H33 and let yourself be enchanted.