The title of the exhibition is:
DERO
November 29th – December 7, 2002
Cupola Gallery - Iasi, Romania
And this is the statement:
DERO (ROmanian DEtergent) is one of the few Romanian communist era
products which has survived throughout the economic transition. Its
original recipe and presentation have been altered to render it
marketable. Aggressively promoted, it became a local commercial
advertising hero, symbol of the rebirth of a familiar image through its
totally reinvented content. Its name was retained because of its local
resonance. Its content is nowadays an alien expression of consumerism
(the state-owned DERO factory was sold to Unilever). DERO is seen as a
paradigm (and a paradox) of the present day Romanian identity crisis.
Is consumerism organically rejected by a traditionalist society
emerging from an era of cultural isolation and strict upholding of its
tradition or is it unconditionally embraced? In an effort of formal
self-purification, devoid of any traditionalist "esthetical
correctness", the artist avoids any value judgements and allows himself
to comment, question and self-question in his quest for a solution to
this identity dilemma. The answer might also yield the key to the
artist's own identity and role in the society to which he belongs.
the drawings on the walls were made on the computer and then cut with a
cutter plotter at the actual size.
(
geocities.com/westhollywood/stonewall) (
geocities.com/westhollywood)