Marius Ritiu

My practice questions concepts such as nationhood, borders and nationalism, reflecting on global responsibility, collective consciousness, and citizenship, and suggesting the potential for immensely varied human experiences to unite.

Instead of being celebrated, our differences are made into symbols and ideologies meant to divide; they are turned into borders. The perspective of those who’ve crossed a few is worth reflecting on and from, but it is the astronaut who is the true skeptic: no eye that looks ‘down’ on Earth from space can see such perverse dividing lines. Now, this outlook invites radical revisionism.

I've been working a lot with copper, copper being the physical material that connects the world. Its incorporation into technology (communication, transport) has enabled and increased the mobility of ideas, goods, and people, impacting the nature and physicality of borders. It has become important to my work for both its physical and philosophical characteristics. In the classical world, alchemy associated seven metals with the planets (silver/Moon, mercury/Mercury, copper/Venus, gold/Sun, iron/Mars, tin/Jupiter, lead/Saturn). As one of these materials, copper has a direct association both with human history and the cosmos. I am using a technique called Repoussé, which does not require a highly equipped studio; rather it is more of a nomadic technique that I can use wherever I go, well-suited to my nomadic lifestyle.

My own experience as a travelling artist and an immigrant, continuing crossing borders and witnessing variations in culture, religion, nation, race– undoubtedly informs and anchors my practice. But what it more importantly grounds is the quest essential to my work to comprehend and express the global through the local, the universal through the particular, the familiar through the alien. I believe that we are all connected.

I consider myself not only a sculptor but also a storyteller, one who wishes to create somewhat open-ended tales, later finalized in the mind of the viewer.

Marius Ritiu
Born in 1984 in Satu Mare, Transylvania : Based in Antwerp and New York.

EDUCATION: 

2014 
Master's Degree - Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department, Antwerp, BE.

2009
Master's Degree - University of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department, Cluj Napoca, RO.

2007
Bachelor`s Degree - University of Fine Arts, Sculpture Department, Cluj Napoca, RO.

SOLO SHOWS: 

2021
- Is There Anybody Out There?, DMW Gallery, Antwerp, BE.

2020
- Odysseus, Edition Populaire, Antwerp, BE.
- The Apocalypse (Sisyphus Part IV), Slag Gallery, New York, USA.
- Non-Ferrous Appetite, SAC, Bucharest, RO.

2019
- The Alley of the Universe, DMW Gallery, Antwerp, BE.

2019
- Highway to the Moon (Sisyphus part III), MOONSTREET Gallery, Antwerp, BE.
- Milky Way, Sisyphus Gallery, Antwerp, BE.

2017
- The Tale of a Found Dimension, Slag Gallery, New York, USA.

2015
- Venus Von Hamburg, Open Source Gallery, New York, USA.

2014
- Eleven Thousandth of a Second Long Ride, Galerie Marion De Cannière, Antwerp, BE.

2013
- Eleven Thousandth of a Second Long Ride, project presentation (supported by ARTE TV France), The Clemente, New York, US.

2012
- Different Perspective  “Contest/Exhibition”, Galerie Marion De Cannière, Antwerp, BE.
- DE SOKKEL #3 - Kunstinterventie in het Antwerpse  Stadspark, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, BE.
- Magic Carpet, project presentation at Slick Art Fair/Galerie Marion De Cannière, Brussels, BE.

2011
- Mas(s) Moving, Galerie Marion De Cannière, Antwerp, BE.
- Stressing State, Trajector Art Fair/Galerie Marion De Cannière, Brussels, BE.

2010
- How to Become Famous in One Month, Galerie Marion De Cannière, Antwerp, BE.


GROUP SHOWS (selection):

2022
- Stealing Thunder, Barbe Urbain Gallery, Ghent, BE.
- Making Fun, De Warande, Turnhout, BE.
- The Most Sunny Hour of Your Night, TI-Pi Art Space, Ghent, BE
- Stormloop, Herentals, BE.

2021
- Return to Sender (Sisyphus Part VI), Franconia Sculpture Park, Minneapolis, US.
- Scapes, Slag Gallery, New York, US.
- Orangerie, Het Paviljoen, Ghent, BE.
- Circus Gambit, Circus Studios, Antwerp, BE.
- I Am a Glitch in the System (Sisyphus Part V), Ballroom Projects, Antwerp, BE.
- Superstudio, Antwerp, BE.
- Ernest Albert Prize, Mechelen, BE.
- Pacificaciestraat 13, Antwerp, BE.

2019
- The Socrates Annual, Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, US.
- Deep Time, WARP Contemporary Art Platform, Sint Niklaas, BE.

2018
- Festival des 5 saisons, Chaudefontaine, BE.
- P(ART)cours / Par(KUNST) Biennial, Brussels, BE.

2017
- Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.
- Independent Brussels, Slag Gallery, Brussels, BE.

2016
- Volta Basel, Slag Gallery, Basel, CH.
- What are we building down there? Bucharest Biennale 7, RO.
- Ringland: A city is not a road, Bernaerts Auction House, Antwerp, BE.
- Tamango, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, RO.

2015
- Art Contest, De Markten, Brussels, BE.
- cutlog Paris, artists recommended by ARTE France, Paris, FR.
- Closer/ Dichterbij Festival, Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp, BE.
- 120 Minutes,curated by Frank Koolen & Lieven Segers, Art Brussels, BE.
- A Belgian Politician, Marion De Cannière Art Space, Antwerp, BE.

2014
- Noli me tangere, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.
- The Patron of the Travellers, BORG Biennial, Antwerp, BE.
- Public Intimacy, Art Brussels/Galerie Marion De Cannière, Brussels, BE.
- Park + Ride, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.

2013
- Reframe Festival, TAC, Eindhoven, NL.
- P.R.E.S.T.I.G.E., Plateau ROZIER, Ghent, BE.

2012
- Sideways Festival, Turnhout, BE.
- Tweespoor, De Warande, Turnhout, BE.
- Twelve Thousandth Three Hundred Forty-Five , Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.

2011
- The Tiberius Principle (Exit 2011 – Entrée 2012), Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, BE.
- cutlog Art Fair/Galerie Marion De Cannière, Bourse du Commerce, Paris, FR.
- Photocollages, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.

2010
- Certified Copy, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.
- Trou de ville, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.


RESIDENCIES : 

2021
- Franconia Sculpture Park, Minneapolis, USA.
- Arteventura, Aracena, ES.

2019
- Socrates Sculpture Park, NYC, USA.

2018
- ISCP (International Studio & Curatorial Program), New York, USA.

2017
- ISCP (International Studio & Curatorial Program), New York, USA.

2010
- Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, BE.

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:

2021
- Franconia Sculpture Park Fellowship, Minneapolis, USA.
- Ernest Albert Prize, Mechelen, BE (nominee).

2020
- Kunsten en Erfgoed, Brussels, BE.

2019
- Socrates Sculpture Park Fellowship, NYC, USA.

2018
- Kunsten en Erfgoed, Brussels, BE.

2017
- Kunsten en Erfgoed, Brussels, BE.

2011
- ARTE/cutlog Prize for the project No Borders Equals Tolerance, presented during the cutlog Art Fair, Bourse du Commerce, Paris, FR.

COMMISSIONS: 

2018
- Vetis City Hall, Satu Mare, RO (public monument).

2016
- Thalie Art Foundation, Brussels, BE.

2012
- DE SOKKEL #3, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, BE.
- Tweespoor, De Warande, Turnhout, BE.