Mircea Teleagă
Mircea Teleagă, 'Dashboard', 2024, oil on canvas, 45.8 x 35.6cm
At the core of Teleagă’s paintings are nature and our relationship with it. The scenes depicted vary from remote landscapes to claustrophobic interiors. They bear the signs of human presence in various forms, full of mementos taken from nature and also show the residual human activity within the landscape. Oscillating between outside and inside is essential as the depicted place never has a certain identity. Whenever a landscape is identified, there are elements to pull the viewer inside and remind of the industrial and human-built. When indoors, within built walls, small potted trees and plants mimic nature inducing reveries and the contemplation of the outdoors. The paintings are devoid of human characters leaving the viewer solely exploring these places, in an intense psychological searching for the safe and the familiar. No one can provide comfort or solidarity as it is a journey the artist takes alone. In this exploration of our relationship with nature, memories or personal histories become unavoidable and appear in the way. Teleagă conjures unpredictable images with deep roots. This is search through a very personal cultural lens and affects how the outside is seen and interpreted. The surrounding world cannot be investigated without simultaneously exploring oneself.
Mircea Teleagă (b.1989, Romania) is an artist currently living and working in London, UK. He graduated from the MFA Painting Course at the Slade School of Fine Art, London in 2016. For the two years course, Teleagă has been awarded the Sarabande Lee Alexander McQueen Scholarship, having been selected for this prize by Dinos Chapman. Previous exhibitions include: The Hour Between Dog and Wolf (2024) solo show at Theo Gallery, Seoul [KR]; In Our Own Time (2023) duo show at OHSH South, London [UK]; Locus Solus (2023) solo show at Unit 1 Gallery Workshop, London [UK]; Hinterland (2023) group show at John Martin Gallery, London [UK]; In Conversation (2021) duo show at bo.lee Gallery, London [UK]; WORKS (2019) solo show at Europe House, European Commission Representation in the UK, 12 St Gallery, London [UK]; Gyeongju International Art Festival (2019) group show at Gyeongju Art Centre, Gyeongju [KR]; Presence (2018) solo show at Sarabande Foundation, London [UK]; Romanian Eyes (2018) group show at Space K, Seoul [KR]; let it burn (2017) solo show at Sarabande Foundation, London [UK]; Glossary (2016) group show at Safehouse 1 & 2, London [UK] Mircea Teleagă has taken part in international residency programs amongst which: ArtLab Residency (2024) Gwacheon [KR], NKD Residency (2023) [NO], KHNP Residency (2019) Gyeongju [KR], Sarabande Residency (2016-2018) London [UK], AVA Residency - HKBU (2016) [Hong Kong], Slade Summer School Residency (2016) Slade School of Fine Art - UCL, London [UK] Notable collections in which Mircea Teleagă’s works can be found include: AVA Collection, HKBU [Hong Kong]; Kolon Collection, Seoul [KR]; KHNP Collection, Gyeongju [KR]; Sarabande Collection, London [UK]; Simons & Simmons, London [UK]; Soho House Collection Amsterdam [NL]; Soho House Collection Paris [FR]