Şerban Savu
Şerban Savu was born in 1978. Graduated in 2001 from the University of Art and Design, Cluj.
The years of Şerban Savu’s youth shall cover the period of rapid political and economic changes in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1989, when in Romania the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown in a bloody manner, Savu was 11 years old. He received his artistic education at the University of Arts in Cluj-Napoca, where he studied with artists such as Victor Man and Adrian Ghenie. Shortly after, their work was included in the new wave of Romanian painting, known as “School of Cluj”.
What distinguishes Savu from his colleagues is his realistic style and para-documentary knack. However, the realism of his paintings has little in common with socrealistic doctrine, which in the past was prominent in Romanian art. Crucial for him is the classic tradition of European painting, particularly Italian and French. In Savu’s works, we see echoes of Leon Battista Alberti’s assumptions, idyllic landscapes of Poussin and Lorrain, and finally depictions of peasants by Pieter Bruegel and Jean-Frainçois Millet. These inspirations set in contemporary Romanian landscape became part of a melancholic tale of a fallen empire somewhere on the borders of the civilized world.
He lives and works in Cluj (RO).
Works in collections
Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL
Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, FR
Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK
National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, RO
San Francisco MOMA, US
Hort Family Collection, New York, US
Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson Collection, Los Angeles, US
solo exhibitions
2021
- Makeovers, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, RO
- Regolith, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2020
- ECHINOCȚIU, Kunsthalle Bega, Timișoara, RO
2019
- En dérive, Centre d’art Le Lait, Albi, FR
- The New Life, Dawid Radziszewski, Warsaw, PL
2018
- Heroes, Saints and Other Figures, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Serban Savu, Museo Pietro Canonica, Rome, IT
2016
- New Works, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2015
- Pictures at an Exhibition, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Manastur, Dawid Radziszewski, Warsaw, PL
2014
- Sometimes My Eyes are the Eyes of a Stranger, Monica de Cardenas Gallery, Milan, IT
2012
- Daily Practice for the End of the World, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Overview, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2011
- Close to Nature, David Nolan Gallery, New York, US
- Under the Radar, Pitzhanger Manor House & Gallery, London, UK
2010
- Unimportant Stories, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- Essay on Limits, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, FR
2009
- Recent Paintings, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- The Edge of the Empire, David Nolan Gallery, New York, US
- Behind the Walls, Laika, Cluj, RO
2007
- Harvest, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- Girls, Galeria Plan B, Cluj, RO
- Along The River, FA Projects, London, UK
2006
- The New Man, Mie Lefever Gallery, Ghent, BE
- Clock Card, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, RO
2004
- Vietato l’ingresso ai non addetti ai lavori, Cube Gallery, Venice, IT
- Ichtyos, Spazio Arte Pisanello, Verona, IT
2001
- Other Marine Species, Radio Gallery, Cluj, RO
selected group exhibitions
2021
- How We Live, Part II, Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, US
- Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, Lateral ArtSpace, Cluj, RO
- PROIECTII IN ISTORIA VIITOARE, RECURENTE INTR-UN SPATIU ANTIFONIC, B5 Studio, Targul Mures, RO
- Arta si Orasul 1974-2021, Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest, RO
2020
- Serban Savu, Adrian Ghenie, Ciprian Muresan, and Geta Bratescu, La Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, Rome, IT
2019
- Ciprian Muresan et Serban Savu: L’atelier sans fin, Atelier Brancusi – Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
- Ex-East, Past and Recent Stories of the Romanian Avant-Garde, Espace Niemeyer, Paris, FR
- The Influencing Machine, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest, RO
- Because in our dreams we took risks, Art Encounters, Timisoara, RO
- La Brique, the Brick, Caramida, La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, FR
2018
- BioPerversity, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- The state We Are In, Collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Labirynth Gallery, Lublin, PL
- Art on Stage, Art Safari, Bucharest, RO
- Double Heads Matches, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest, HU
- Une saison roumaine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
- DOUBLE HEADS MATCHES. A selection of contemporary artworks from four Romanian private collections, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest, HU
2017
- Disruptive Imagination – Making Windows Where There Were Once Walls, Gallery of Fine Arts, Ostrava, CZ
- Ferenczy Museum Center, Szentendre, HU
- Hierophant, Nicodim Gallery, Bucharest, RO
- The 3rd Mediterranean Biennale: Out of Place, Sakhnin, IL
- On the Sex of Angels, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest, RO
2016
- …Hounded by External Events…, Maureen Paley Gallery, London, UK
- George Grosz: Politics and His Influence, David Nolan Gallery, New York, US
- Layers, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest, RO
- Landscapes After Ruskin: Redefining The Sublime, The Hall Art Foundation, Reading, US
- Berlin Show #4: Inventory, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Track Changes, Mendes Wood DM Gallery, Sao Paulo, BR
- The Factory of Facts and Other (Unspoken) Stories, Salonul de Projecte, Bucharest; Domino, Cluj, RO
2015
- Tracing Shadows, PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, KR
- Appearance and Essence, Art Encounters Biennial, Timisoara, RO
- Pocket Revolutions, Korea Foundation, Seoul, KR
- Group Exhibition, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2014
- Defaced, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, US
- A FEW GRAMS OF RED, YELLOW, BLUE: New Romanian Art, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- Through the Collector´s Eye, The Office, Cluj, RO
2013
- Scènes Roumaines, Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris, FR
- Nightfall: New Tendencies in Figurative Painting, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, CZ
- HOTSPOT CLUJ – NEW ROMANIAN ART, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, DK
- Km/h, Utopies automobiles et ferroviaires 1913-2013, Tour 46, Belfort & Musée du Château des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard, FR
2012
- Nightfall. New Tendencies in Figurative Painting, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art, Debrecen, HU
- Salonul de vara, Galeria Plan B, Cluj, RO
- Referencing History, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
- European Travellers – Art from Cluj Today, Mȕcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, HU
2011
- Anthem of People’s Love, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- East Ex East, Brand New Gallery, Milan, IT
- Salonul de mai, Galeria Plan B, Cluj, RO
- Communism never happened, Galerie CUC Charim Unger Contemporary, Berlin, DE
- Communism never happened, Charim Galerie, Vienna, AT
2010
- Romanian Cultural Resolution, Figurative Painting in Romania: 1970-2000, Spinnerei, Leipzig, DE
- After the Fall, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New York, US
- Der offene Garten, Kunsthalle Lingen, DE
- Route tournante en sous-bois, UpLoad Art Project (ULAP), Trento, IT
- Mircea Pinte Collection – I – ,The Art Museum Cluj, RO
- BERLIN SHOW #2, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Romanian Cultural Resolution, Figurative Painting in Romania: 1970-2000, Club Electroputere, Craiova, RO
2009
- Invisible Body, Conspicuous Mind, The Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Los Angeles, US
- Show me a hero, Calvert22, London, UK
- Expanded Painting 3, Prague Biennale 4, Prague, CZ
- I´ve watered a Horseshoe as if it Were a Flower, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2008
- Size Matters: XS – Recent Small-Scale Painting, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, US
- Re-construction, Biennial of Young Artists, Bucharest, RO
- Berlin Show #1, Galeria Plan B, Berlin, DE
- Closer Still, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- Days Become Nights, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, FR
2007
- Eastern European Painting Now, Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, Texas, US
- Across the Trees, David Nolan Gallery, New York, US
- Expanded Painting 2, Prague Biennale 3, Prague, CZ
2006
- Cluj Connection, Haunch of Venison Gallery, Zurich, CH
- Please Drive Slowly Through Our World, Kontainer Gallery, Los Angeles, US
- Orit Gat, …Hounded by External Events…,frieze, 2017
- Jane Neal, Serban Savu, Flash Art, 2016
- Interview with Serban Savu, by Rob Colvin, Hyperallergic, 2014
- Zeke Turner, A Medieval Romanian City With Major Art Talent, New York Times, 2013
- Lloyd Wise, Serban Savu, Artforum, 2011
- David Cohen, Communism Never Happened: Serban Savu and the Cluj Connection, artcritical.com, 2011
- Inside the mind of Serban Savu. Exploring the creative processes of artists featured in Vitamin P2, Phaidon, 2011
- Holland Cotter. Serban Savu ‘The Edge of the Empire’, The New York Times, 2009
- Şerban Savu, Dialogues9.04-14.05.2022
- Şerban Savu, The New Life20.09-19.10.2019
- Şerban Savu, Mănăştur18.12.2015—30.01.2016