Butterfly 2016, metal, fiberglass, electric components, variable dimensions

Click Below To See More Work by Stefan Radu Cretu

BIOGRAPHY

Stefan Radu Cretu (b. 1983) studied at the Art and Design University in Cluj and graduated from the Ceramic-Glass-Metal department in 2006. In 2005, he received an Erasmus grant for one year at the Fine Art Academy in Wroclaw, Poland. In 2008, he earned his Master’s degree in sculpture from the National University of Arts in Bucharest. In 2016, Cretu completed his Ph.D. in Visual Arts at the National University of Arts in Bucharest.

Stefan Cretu’s works emphasize an obsession with progress and the fusion between nature and technology, which appears to be the ultimate goal of humankind. He regarded technology as a force that currently has the most significant impact on people’s lives. However, despite continuous progress, it has proven to be deceptive as it does not always align with the genuine needs of the individual. Progress has given rise to a complex human being with heightened material needs, one who is more captivated by the artificial and fruitless.

This complex individual was consistently dissatisfied, less secure, and less free. Currently, people are relinquishing the essentials of becoming artificial beings. Man is no longer the creator of technology but rather one who is dependent on and controlled by it. The evolution-obsessed individual makes numerous errors in the pursuit of improving nature and, at times, these errors are taken to extremes.

The artist aspires to return to nature, suggesting simplicity in everyday life. We can recognize Stefan Cretu’s artwork as bi- or tridimensional, with varying volumes and abstract interpretations of different species from our world’s evolution.

WORKS IN ART COLLECTIONS
Beelden aan Zee Museum Harteveltstraat Scheveningen, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Boynton Beach Art in Public Places, City of Boynton Beach, Florida USA
Private collections in USA, Canada and Germany

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Unknown Creatures | Texts By Victoria Dejaco, Simona Vilau, Liviana Dan, Cees Hendriske, Fundatia Joana Grevers, 2019
Catalogue ‘Art in Embassies Exhibition’, United States Embassy, Bucharest | Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., 2016
Sensus Propero | Simona Vilau, Fundatia Joana Grevers, 2014
Disambiguation | Doina Mandru, Palatele Brancovenesti Mogosoaia, Bucharest, 2013
Paratarrasius Hibridus | Liviana Dan, Fundatia Joana Grevers, 2012

SELECTED ARTICLES
Young Artists, Young Friends – New Contemporaries | arthotshot.com, Antonella Grevers
Stefan Radu Cretu, creaturi necunoscute si habitatul lor. Cu interpolari de Victoria Dejaco | Stefan Radu Cretu, Unknown Creatures and Their Habitat. With insertions by Victoria Dejaco | Revista Arta, No. 40 – 41, by Adina Mocanu, February 2020
Kinetic Artist – Stefan Radu Cretu | ArtHotShot.com, Antonella Grevers, 2020
Exhibition Opening and Book Release | Stefan Radu Cretu – Unknown Creatures, curated by Victoria Dejaco | Art Agenda, May 2019
Exhibition Opening Stefan Radu Cretu – Unknown Creatures |418GALLERY – Cetate, Adevarul, Doinel Tronaru, May 2019
Cetate Arts Danube – Impressions by Victoria Dejaco | Vienna Contemporary Mag, August 2018
Vietăți mecanice, mixaje vizual-textuale, gravuri cu carambol! | Reporter Global, Ion Bogdan Lefter, July 2018
Artists create moving sculptures for Kinetic Art Exhibit | South Florida Sun Sentinel, Jan Engoren, 2017
Stefan Radu Cretu – Sensus Propero | Levure Litteraire, Simona Vilau, 2014
Severins Choice – Stefan Radu Cretu | The Alchemical City, Constantin Severin, 2014
In Cetate atmet man Kunst ein | Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung fur Rumanien, Aida Ivan, 2014

SYMPOSIA
Cetate Arts Danube – Artists in Residency, 2012 – 2019, Cetate Arts Danube Center, Cetate, Romania
International Kinetic Art Biennial 2017, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
European Music and Art Festival 2011, Mazieres de Touraine, France
Ars et sequentia, Culture Festival 2011, Monchenholzhausen, Germany
Caravan of culture, Regionale 2010, Festival of Contemporary Art, Austria
Cisart, Symposium of Contemporary Art 2009, Cisnadie, Romania
Plastic Schmalkalden, International art symposium 2009, Schmalkalden, Germany
The Art of Culture, International Symposium of Contemporary Art 2007, Rusciori, Romania