Latin America: Dan Perjovschi

From the Balkans to Latin America and from there to Central Europe: Dan Perjovschi, the international art personality, intervenes in the geopolitical festival at the Onassis Stegi, painting straight onto its surfaces with his caustic marker in what looks set to be a revelatory performance-installation!

One of Rumania’s most significant artists, Dan Perjovschi is also one of the most best-known Rumanian artists internationally. Born in Transylvania, he did not quit his country during the Ceaușescu years, staying put instead to express his people’s need for freedom and political rationalization. After the dictator’s fall, he played a key role in helping build Rumanian civil society.

Today, he is a leading figure in Rumanian activism and politicized art. He has staged one-man shows in some of the world’s most important museums, including the MOMA in New York, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Tate Modern in London and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. He is also a regular at high-profile international art events such as the Documenta in Kassel and the São Paolo Biennale.

His work is multifaceted, but he primarily made his name as a performance artist and with his black and white sketches caustically critiquing political developments in his homeland and the world.

Charged with opening the trilogy of Transitions festival last year at the Onassis Stegi in its first—Balkan—manifestation, he presented his artistic career and developments on the world political scene in an unforgettable performance-lecture with the title "From the Museum wall to the Facebook wall".

This year, he will intervene with his characteristic sketches on both the Onassis Stegi’s glass surfaces and the LED wall on its frontage, transforming the building into a huge and hugely humorous, reflective and political installation.

Taking Rumania as his starting point, Perjovschi turns his gaze on the world, takes examples from the social struggles in South America and makes a stop in São Paolo before returning to Eastern Europe. In so doing, he provides a link between the three festivals in the Transitions trilogy.