Sergiu Laslo

Trained at the now famous neo-figurative art school in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Sergiu Laslo has carried out this year a particularly original introspection on the highly expressive chromatic shades of grey. In his first exhibition, Lighting Grey, held at Estopia Art Gallery in Bucharest, in May 2019, he showcased a series of bizarre portraits, dominated – apparently – by monochrome grey. With this new series of works, made specifically for this new show in Lugano, the artist mediates between grey and vivid colors, while preserving his own anti-metaphysical approach, portraying solitary characters. His protagonists are mostly captured in unusual and alienating body postures, with their faces often hidden or absent; or, in other cases, wrapped in a grey that suggests prolonged indecision or evanescent condescension to the mystery of one’s real presence.

With a background that alone illustrates outstanding results in the experimental use of grey inspired from the new neo-figurative trend, Laslo intelligently introduces and alternates full-bodied fields of colored shadows and subtle grey inserts. In many of the works presented in this show, the chromatic iridescence can be seen exploding from the margins, as if suddenly, the viewer would start to see / understand better, foreseeing life and color beyond the gestural snapshots in which these characters are portrayed. From an element to fill in the canvas to an instrument of contrast, color takes over the previous grey phase, and the sudden deviation becomes the central focal point of a particular artistic methodology to illustrate the symbiotic relationship between the fragments of a suspended gesture and a personal and joyful mastication of vivid colors with luminous grey. All, in order to escape in an action – inaction game able to shape imaginary worlds, alienating reconstructions of topics and personal tics in neutral spaces, which at the same time reveal little of a sociological or dreamlike approach.

Born in 1993 in Cluj-Napoca, where he lives and works, Sergiu Laslo studied Painting at the University of Arts and Design in the same city. In 2019 he presented his first personal exhibition, Lighting Grey, at the Estopia Art Gallery, in Bucharest, receiving public and critical acclaim. Since 2017, he has taken part in various group shows in Romania and abroad, including Going East at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London; in Cluj, at the Bombastic Cultural Space and Workshop Launloc, DIY (Do It Yourself), Gara Mică Cultural Space; Paintings and Jewelry, Wine Notes, and Close Encounters of the Ninth Kind, City Art Space and Double Tree at Hilton; Rebellive Art / Conscious, A fashion-infused Art Zine, in Budapest, and I Don’t Emanate Carbon, Halucinarium – Triaj creativ, in Bucharest.

Estopia Art Gallery opened the first exhibition space in January 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. With the addition of Edwin H. Scorretti and Michelle d’Ancona, the gallery opened a second space in Lugano, Switzerland, in September 2019; a third location is planned for 2020 in Berlin. The objective is to create a dynamic platform for dialogue between artists from the East and the international art market. Estopia focuses on the scouting of artists from Eastern Europe, with the aim of bringing to the fore the most current topics and personalities of the area in the art field. Estopia aims to create new opportunities in the art investment, while connecting the East and the West.

Sergiu Laslo, Stolen Moments

Curator: Claudio Scorretti Co-Curator: Edwin H. Scorretti
7 November 2019 – 31 January 2020
Inauguration: Thursday, 7 November 2019, 6.00 pm