The Annual Salon of UK-based Romanian Artists

The new edition of our 'Annual Salon of UK-based Romanian Artists' showcases the vibrancy and formal diversity of an ambitious creative medley: Mircea Teleagă, Nora Blaj, Bogdan Mihai Radu, Anca Ștefănescu, Doina Moss, Cristian Ștefănescu, Ioana Man, Ionela Flood, Irina Dragoș, Sorin Giurgea and Andreea Pușcașu. The Romanian Artists' Salon in the UK is an annual project dedicated to the creation of Romanian artists, aimed at creating a platform for dialogue between the public and Romanian artists.

Born in 1989, Mircea Teleagă is appreciated by critics as one of the most promising Romanian artists of the moment. He graduated from Coventry University with a BA in Visual Arts and Illustration in 2013 and with an MA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. Teleagă practises a distinctive expressive and technical painting, with layers of colour layered into images, landscapes and places that sit on the border between figurative and abstract. In his work in exhibitions in London, Coventry, Cardiff and Birmingham there is a constant tension between natural and built space, memory and history - themes central to his theoretical explorations. Over the past four years, Mircea Teleagă has been the recipient of major residencies in the UK such as Coventry Pod (2013-2014), Academy of Visual Arts Hong Kong Baptist University (2016) and Sarabande Foundation London (2016-2018). The artist currently lives and works in London.

International artist Nora Blaj, who lives and paints in the UK has numerous solo exhibitions in the UK, Romania, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia. In 2008 she was awarded the prize for the best artist of the year in Timisoara, and in 2020 Nora Blaj was decorated by the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis with the Order "Meritul Cultural" in the rank of Knight, the category "Fine Arts".

Bogdan Mihai Radu, born in 1979 in Sibiu, lives in London, paints, exhibits and sells in the UK capital, and was selected by the Royal Academy of Arts for the Summer exhibition.
He left Romania after winning first prize in a competition in Oxford, and after a few months of working and living in London, he decided to settle in the UK, where, not even a year after "relocating", he offers the public his first solo exhibition in Shakespeare's country, at the ICR London. So far, the most "visible" of the visitors seem to be former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Bogdan Mihai Radu's works are in private collections in the country and abroad (Germany, Holland, USA, France, Poland, etc.), as well as in the personal groups of Silviu Purcărete, Constantin Chiriac, Oana Pellea, Rodica Popescu-Bitănescu, Barbara Stamm, Bebe Cotimanis and Laurent Tourette.

Born in 1974, Anca Ștefănescu began studying painting at the age of 12. Since then, art has always been her passion, and in 1999 she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts, specializing in painting, at the National University of Arts in Bucharest. She currently lives and creates near Oxford, and in recent years has had numerous exhibitions in Europe and the USA where she has received several awards, including the most recent:
5th Place Award" ALL Women Artist, Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis, MD, USA, March 2019, 6th Place Award" Open / No theme, Contemporary Art Gallery Online - Annapolis, MD, USA, February 2019
, Honourable Mention" 2nd Annual Women Artists Art Exhibition, Fusion Art Gallery, Palm Springs, CA, USA, January 2019.

London-based artist Cristian Ștefănescu was born in 1968 in Bucharest. He obtained a master's degree in 1992 from the Technical University of Construction in Bucharest. After spending more than a decade of his life teaching at the Technical University of Construction in Bucharest, Cristian moved from academia to Information Technology holding various management positions in multinational companies in Europe. Finally, in 2018, together with his wife, painter Anca Ștefănescu, they moved to London where they opened their own art studio, dedicating their time entirely to art.
In his abstract series, Ștefănescu uses photographs to deconstruct and alter reality in order to achieve abstract imagery, as abstract thinking by definition encompasses a mental process, and an abstract object does not exist in time or space, but instead exists as a thought, as an idea.

Ioana Man was born in 1992 in Cluj-Napoca. A graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, bachelor and master's cycles, of the Tenhic University of Cluj Napoca, Ioana Man works in this field and perfects her knowledge during her architectural studies by expressing herself dynamically, from a pictorial point of view, in contemporary art.

Doina Moss is an alumna of the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism (Bucharest) as well as the Architectural Association, Westminster University (London), and Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London). In 1987, Doina Moss moved to Great Britain and upon completion of her studies, became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a Fellow of the RSA. Doina’s artist debut took place at the RA Salon Des Refuses 2017, where she was sold out at the preview evening. The artist has participated in several group exhibitions, killing two birds with one stone - her passion for architecture and for visual arts. The national television in Romania realized a documentary about her achievements. More about Doina Moss on the artist's page.

Ionela Flood obtained a scholarship in cultural management from the Romanian Ministry of Culture in 1999, studying in Italy, Greece, France and the UK. Resident in London since 2001, she is currently conducting doctoral research with a scholarship from the Romanian Ministry of Education in the field of project management, developing projects for Romanians abroad. I was director of the Mihai Eminescu Centre in Bucharest, founded Enigmaticul magazine in 1999 and initiated the Mihai Eminescu Festival, the Third Millennium Festival and the Sports Dance Festival. The most recent projects she has been involved in are in the fields of culture, business and education. Painting is one of her passions and her presence at this exhibition could be a good springboard for her in this field.

Irina Dragoș is an early career artist who exhibited at PARALLAX ART FAIR Kensington in London in October 2019 and who wants to build a career in painting, and this event can be a starting point to help her professional development.

Sorin Giurgea's paintings are a visual diary of his travels and life experiences. He believes that abstract art produces a much more accurate picture of what we see every day through our feelings. He values colour for its powerful symbolism and uses it to communicate emotions.
Sorin Giurgea lives in Luton and has his studio in Wembley and exhibited at PARALLAX ART FAIR Kensington in London in October 2019.

Andreea Pușcașu is a 19 years old aspiring artist living in Finland who exhibited this spring in London at The Holy Art gallery.
She is studying architecture at Aalto University in September 2021. She is largely self-taught in the fine arts, and her presence at our proposed exhibition for approval could be a good opportunity to develop relationships in the British space.

When: Preview - Wednesday 5 October, 7 pm. Free entry. Booking on Eventbrite is necessary for attending the Preview.

The exhibition is open until 19 October, Mon-Fri, 10 am - 5 pm.

Where: The Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH

Host or Publisher Romanian Cultural Institute London