The forthcoming exhibition Transylvanian Painting Now at Telegraph Gallery, opening on 5 March, is not only another exhibition project, but above all the culmination of a long-term curatorial lineage that systematically maps contemporary European figurative painting. The exhibition builds on two previous projects, German Painting Now and New Positions in British Painting and together they form a trilogy curated and conceptualized by British curator Jane Neal.
The first chapter of this trilogy took place in 2021, when Telegraph Gallery presented the exhibition German Painting Now. The project offered a glimpse of the current state of German painting, reminding us of its historical importance as well as the energy of contemporary artists. The exhibition featured twelve artists, including Tim Eitel, Dennis Scholl, Michael Kunze and Matthias Weischer.
In 2023, an exhibition followed New Positions in British Painting, which focused on the younger generation of artists working in the UK and reflected on the transformation of the painting medium in the context of new technologies, social change and visual culture. Collectively exhibiting Jessie Makinson, Justin Mortimer, Tom Anholt, David Brian Smith and Caroline Walker, whose work visitors can see until 19 December 2016, were Caroline Walker. February and in the exhibition Behind the Counter.
The third and final section, entitled Transylvanian Painting Today, turns its attention toward Eastern Europe, specifically Romania and the Transylvania region. It is here that a particularly strong and internationally respected painting scene, known as the Cluj School, has emerged over the last two decades. The project focuses on contemporary figurative painting that is based on the local cultural, historical and social context, but at the same time is fully comprehensible on a global scale. The exhibition will feature a total of fifteen artists, the most famous of which include Adrian Ghenie, Victor Man and Marius Bercea. One of the exhibiting artists will be Radu Baies, who will be making a solo exhibition at Telegraph Gallery in 2021 entitled Searching For My Human Traces.
Jane Neal has long been dedicated to mapping painting as a living and changing medium, focusing on curatorial frameworks that allow for a deeper understanding of particular geographical scenes and their interrelationships. Thus, the trilogy realized at Telegraph Gallery traces how figurative painting evolves in different European cultural and political contexts.
