Tara-(von-Neudorf)---Pe-santier,-vopsea-colorata-pe-harta-veche,-2012

Tara von Neudorf: The Delirium of History

No. 29 / June 2020

Mihai Plămădeală, art critic – article published in Observator Cultural magazine, no. 639 / 2012

 

In 2012, on August 23, the former National Day of Romania during the communist period, Anaid Art Gallery invited the public to “parade” (as it used to be) in front of a new series of works that surprised us, as always, Tara von Neudorf, artist, and Diana Dochia, curator. The exhibition “Raving History”, to which I refer, has as a starting point that August 23, 1944 in which the Romanian army changed the German camp with the Soviet-Anglo-American, in this case, Soviet camp. The events of that time led to the establishment of Communist regime in the country. Those who wanted to (re) enter the atmosphere of the “glorious” period as it was called in the propaganda of those times, were able to do so through drawings and maps made by the unmistakable Tara.

 

Tara (von Neudorf) – Lectia, marker negru si colorat pe carton, 2011

 

As Diana Dochia told me, “Raving History paints what we have been taught to believe and know about ourselves. Tara (von Neudorf) offers the contemporary public the image of a tumultuous world, in which values ​​have been transformed, reinterpreted, truncated or exaggerated to serve political ideals. Tara does not propose an idyllic or nostalgic image of history, does not make value judgments and does not try to distance himself from the subject. He does not refer to communism to be cool, he does not use the communist props – the Pioneer’s red tie, the uniform of the communist preschooler (Șoimii Patriei – Homeland’s Falcons), the Hammer and Sickle – as simple decorative elements of an era that marked and shook Romania, but presents history after the criteria and the way in which an entire generation was forced to learn it ”.

 

Tara (von Neudorf) – Alimentara, marker negru si colorat pe carton, 2011

 

What did we see at the exhibition I am referring to? Nothing but the cycles of artworks: “Building the Golden Age”, “Life in the Multilaterally Developed Socialist Society”, “The Beauties of the Homeland”, “August 23, 1944”, “The Great Conquests of Communism”, all built according to the pattern of the era, but interpreted totally different. We were also able to relive or experience, through some drawings, the joy of the whole people to do patriotic work for the benefit and well-being of the homeland. It’s an irony, of course. I also got acquainted with the socio-political situation and the culture of the Romanian Lands from different epochs and I recognized legendary historical figures such as: Vlad the Impaler , Stephen the Great, or Michael the Brave.

 

Tara (von Neudorf) – Munca patriotica, marker negru si colorat pe carton, 2012

 

Going beyond the descriptive level, I remark the coherence of the artist and the Gallery that represents him. Tara is a character in the Romanian visual arts who can be annoying and often does. Unlike other artist-characters, von Neudorf is not the hero of scandals created for the sake of scandal and has no favorite clients, nor is he the worst or most frustrated man on earth. He strikes with the same ease in the targets he chooses, without hatred or passion, according to algorithms he knows. Drawing a parallel with field tennis, we would compare him to Rod Laver, Pete Sampras or, closer to us, Roger Federer. Tara do not use slices, but his forehand hits hard and always gets the point.

 

Tara (von Neudorf) – 23 august 1944, vopsea neagra si colorata pe harta veche, 2012

 

On another level, the relationship between iconic and photo-realism is suprinsing. Tara seeks, finds and compiles representative attitudes or faces, which, although taking on as particular concrete forms as possible, deliberately retain all the characteristics of the templates used. The game with the graphic sign, but also with the subject, under the aegis of some composite iconographies, opens ways of communication between worlds whose composition laws are essentially different. Oversizing and undersizing are part of his lexicon of signs, as is intervention, collage, tunning. All this put at the service of ideas that always keep the relationship with the artwork. Tara has the strength to truly finish his work; he does not lose his coherence along the way, nor does he exceed his conceptual limits. Although he operates in detail, his works are not lengthy. Instead, you feel the joy of drawing. Color has more of a living space function for lines, being a follower of dark shapes. In this sense, we must not be deceived by the non-finite solutions of some works. Instead, we can allow ourselves to be transported by the artist into the world of his ideas, without the risks of being “taken elsewhere” than we anticipated at the start of the journey or of being offended, as receivers.

I stop arbitrarily at this point, inviting the reader to confront the present lines with Tara’s own artistic work and his/her own opinions.

 

 

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