In December 2019, the career of Alexandru Ciobanu, a painter and artist based in Venice, encompassed a trajectory from his birthplace in Dubasari, Moldova, to his establishment as a contemporary practitioner working across painting, restoration, and theatrical craft.
Education and Early Career
Ciobanu was born in 1988 in Dubasari, located on the left bank of the Nistru River. In 1992, his family relocated to Cahul, the capital of southern Moldova, where he spent much of his childhood and attended a children’s art school. In 2009, at age twenty-one, he became a teacher at the same art school where he had studied. He worked there for three years before pursuing further education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, from which he graduated in 2016 with a degree in Painting and Restoration.
Practice in Venice
Based in Venice since his graduation, Ciobanu has participated in exhibitions and collaborative projects. In 2016, he contributed to the installation of Sol Lewitt’s “Wall Drawing #343” at Punta della Dogana, Venice, on view from April to November that year. Beyond painting, he works in theatrical arts and crafts, including handmade Venetian masks and scenography for the Gran Ballo di Casanova, one of the major annual events of Carnival in Venice.
Artistic Approach and Recent Exhibitions
Ciobanu’s work explores alternative perspectives on familiar objects and phenomena, addresses social issues, and creates atmospheric compositions. His artistic practice rests on three principles: contrast, humour, and allegory. Recurring elements in his compositions include food, music, animals as symbols of nature and purity, and women as representations of love. He employs surrealism to combine figurative techniques with unexpected symbolism in the details and components of composition.
His personal exhibition “Le visioni dell’inconscio” (Visions of the Unconscious) was held in Venice from May to June 2019. Concurrent with the 2019 Venice Biennale, five of his works were included in the international collective exhibition “International Art Exhibition 2019,” which ran through November 2019. Additional recent exhibitions include “Dimensione donna” at D’E.M. Venice Art Gallery in May 2019 and “Venezia C’è Posto per Te!” in September 2019.
Frequently asked questions
Where was Alexandru Ciobanu born?
Ciobanu was born in 1988 in Dubasari, a city on the left bank of the Nistru River in Moldova.
When did he graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice?
He graduated in 2016 with a degree in Painting and Restoration.
What are the three principles underlying his artistic practice?
His creative practice rests on contrast, humour, and allegory, employed to explore alternative perspectives on familiar objects and phenomena.
