No. 46 / March 2021
Mihai Plămădeală, art critic
In painting, as in life, things are not always what they seem. Not infrequently, the figurative and the abstract disguise each other; sometimes we find concrete shapes in the spots of color, other times things as realistic as possible are configured with the help of non-figurative means.
Lucian Liciu’s abstract artworks from the exhibition project “Eclectic” are atypical, because they do not belong to the historical abstract art movement, be it analytical or synthetic, but we are dealing rather with a personal transposing code.
The artist started from fragments of urban tissue seen as a general plan, ie from above, possibly from a drone or as well on a map, and marked them chromatically, retaining some of the contours in his compositions. Thus results a series of images rather difficult to identify than abstract, in the sense of style. Geometry is the default, but the rhythm is given by the chromatics, not by the lines. Their logic, from the model used, is functional, not aesthetic.
The project I am analyzing is all the more interesting as Lucian Liciu is a figurative artist par excellence. An ardent sketch artist, he is indivisibly connected with his subjects, which he chooses in full consciousness, only if he has understood and absorbed them. His abstract canvases, the ones in this case, actually mark the idea of living, as it could be seen from the outside, from somewhere far away. The whole urban dynamics, but also civilization, could be seen as spots of color delimited in areas and shapes, according to subjective rules, seemingly random.
It is noteworthy that, although he expresses himself masterfully through drawing, the artist does not make colorful drawings, but always gives the painting what belongs to him in fact and in law.