CORNEL BRUDASCU

Cornel Brudașcu has developed an extensive oeuvre spanning from the 1960s to the present day, characterized by a masterful blend of traditional realism and modernist influences. His portraits, particularly of male figures, capture not only the physicality of his subjects but also convey a deep psychological complexity, remaining autonomous from their social context, bound instead by an intimate, meditative atmosphere.

Brudașcu’s fascination with dance and movement adds another layer to his visual language, drawing on the fluidity often associated with post-impressionist painting. His figures, painted in dimly lit oils, embody a delicate tension—pale bodies lying across richly colored fabrics seem to hover between states of rest and vulnerability, romance and tragedy. As Kristian Vistrup Madsen observes, Brudașcu’s works are “tinged with a distinct homoeroticism that is both tortured and tender,” capturing the quiet, dreamlike longing that sets his art apart from more overt expressions of social struggle.

Selected institutional exhibitions include: Mirrors of the Portrait, Highlights of the Centre Pompidou Collection, Vol. III, West Bund Museum, Shanghai (2023); Looking Anew and Beyond, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke (2023); Stefan Bertalan, Cornel Brudascu, Mircea Spataru, Muzeul National de Arta al Moldovei, Chisinau (2023-2024); Avangarda si Contemporaneitate, Muzeul Judetean de Arta, Centrul Artistic, Baia Mare (2023); De leur temps (7), FRAC Grand Large - Hauts-de-France, Dunkirk (2023); YOU FEEL – AND DRIFT – AND SING, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest (2021); Secret Wing, Art Encounters Biennale, Timisoara (2021); Collection display, Musée d’art moderne, Paris (2020); HABITER L’INTIME, Fondation Thalie, Brussels (2019); Flesh and Bone, PS120, Berlin (2019); Ex-East, past and recent stories of the Romanian Avant-Garde, Espace Niemeyer, Paris (2019); Une saison roumaine au Centre Pompidou, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018); Life – A User’s Manual, Art Encounters Biennale, Timisoara (2017); The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern, London (2015); Burning Down the House, 10th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (2014); East of Eden - Photorealism: Versions of Reality, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2011); Romanian Cultural Resolution, Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig (2010); The Museum of Painting, The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest (2005).

Courtesy Galeria Plan B