Control

Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Bucharest is thrilled to present CONTROL – a group exhibition bringing together seven artists who reflect on different systems and beliefs that order, limit, and rule individual and societal actions and behaviors.

In a materially complex exhibition, the seven artists of Control reflect on the power of narrative responding to a critical global disequilibrium. Nona Inescu’s life-sized metal sculpture stands in the center of the Goethe Pavilion, holding space for a dialogue on the human-driven global movement of plants and its implications on world order and landscape transformations. Agnieszca Mastalerz’s eerie video and photography works takes us into Polish orchid factories, addressing spells and rituals within processes of perfecting nature for commercial distribution. Monica Mays sets silkworms in relationship with womanhood, drawing links between domestication and the changing biology of a creature, whether human or otherwise. Chiedza Pasipanodya’s graphite rubbed ceramics rise vertically, bouncing light like ghostly silhouettes of termite mounds. The artist delves into ideas of ancestral mythology on contemporary self-perception. A rebellion simply because they exist, Najaax Harun’s vibrant paintings narrate suppressed stories of the post-Somaliland Civil War. Oana Stanciu’s black and white photographs stage the artist’s body in uncomfortable positions, challenging gravity and traditional power dynamics. And, on a mammoth screen, Monosov’s video work Melodica, introduces us to three characters who protect themselves from any danger. How can they contemplate a world in which they do not participate? Is the triumph of love and art over war and misery not just straight up delusional?

Najaax Harun (b.1995 Somaliland, working in Addis Ababa)
Nona Inescu (b.1991 Romania, working in Berlin)
Agnieszka Mastalerz (b.1991 Poland, working in Warsaw)
Monica Mays (b.1990 Spain, working in Amsterdam)
Rachel Monosov (b.1987 Russia, working in Berlin)
Chiedza Pasipanodya (b. Zimbabwe, working in Toronto)
Oana Stanciu (b.1988 Romania, working in Edinburgh)

Programme:

Thursday, February 29: 11:00 – 15:00
Saturday, March 2: 11:-00 – 14:00
Thursday, March 7: 18:00 – 21:00 (Curatorial Tour 19:00) Saturday, March 9: 11:00-14:00 Thursday, March 14: 15:00 - 21:00 Saturday, March 16: 11:00 - 14:00 (Artist Talk: Nona Inescu 12:30)
Saturday, March 23: 11:00 – 14:30

Control is organised with the generous support of Goethe Institut Bukarest.