No. 49 / December 2023
Mihai Plămădeală, art critic
For Tiberius Adet, the theme is a pretext rather than an iconographic stake. Thus, his paintings swing between figurative and a certain type of abstract, in the sense that various recognizable forms, often geometric, are chromatically derived, becoming metaphorically speaking, windows to possible (other) non-objective artworks. The artist ingeniously treats various concrete areas as textures. I draw attention to the relations between part and whole, whether we are dealing with refined graphic details or intrusive interventions (floating layers applied later in compositions, which change their dynamics).
The artworks selected for his solo show which took place at the UAP Galleries in Ploiești, in December 2023, have as common denominator the sacred and sacredness, a “subject” treated at the iconological level through two series of artworks, one celestial and another one mundane.
The artist represented “cosmic landscapes” both astrologically, a hypostasis in which the movement appears corroborated with the gravitational interaction, as well as gnostic (veterotestamentary), in the sense that the angel sometimes makes his appearance (or at least his presence is suggested) among various celestial bodies treated more or less as abstract visual signs. The light, viewed dualistically as a divine attribute and physical reality, also plays an important role in its system of compositional thought. Light, viewed dualistically as a divine attribute and physical reality, also plays an important role in his compositional system. These are ample, rigorously organized compositions that invoke the relations between the visible and the unseen, under the aegis of both energetic and mystical.
The artworks corresponding to earth are inspired by the numinous ideas of tribal societies, which often emphasize totems, amulets or talismans. Tiberius Adet grants himself maximum freedom of expression in this chapter of his work, appealing exclusively to formal correspondences, not to cultual realities. In fact, we are dealing with compositional motifs, organized algorithmically, according to some personal transpositional ideas.
Regardless of the point of view from which he approaches the idea of sacredness, (divine or human; absolute or relative), the artist focuses on putting into agreement the means at his disposal with the chosen theme, not on the intrinsic message contained therein.
Purely theoretically, in any of the possible worlds (in the sense stated by Protagoras), the fact of being (of existing) manifests itself more or less according to some criteria that go beyond the human capacity of understanding. Knowledge is still possible, not rationally, but only if the mysteries are revealed. I conclude that without programmatically relating to any particular cultural source, at least not consciously, the artist takes a rudolfottonian position, according to which the connection of man to the divine is essentially a mystery tremendum (a shattering mystery).
Purely theoretically, in any of the possible worlds (in the sense stated by Protagoras), the fact of being (of existing) manifests itself more or less according to some criteria that go beyond the human capacity of understanding. Knowledge is still possible, not rationally, but only if the mysteries are revealed. I conclude that without programmatically relating to any particular cultural source, at least not consciously, the artist takes a rudolfottonian position, according to which the connection of man to the divine is essentially a mystery tremendum (a shattering mystery).
