Aurel BULACU
Aurel BULACU
Born in 1947 / Craiova, Romania
Lives and works in Bucharest, Romania
Education
1962-1966 – Art College, Craiova, Romania; 1966-1972 – Nicolae Grigorescu Art Institute, graphics department, Bucharest, Romania; 1973-present – Member of Plastic Artists Union in Romania; 1976 – Manosque, France (specialization); 1993 – 1994 – Kasterlee, Belgium (specialization); 1999 – Thessaloniki, Greece (specialization); 2003 – Belgrade, Serbia (specialization)
Personal Exhibitions (selection)
1973, 1974 – Accademia di Romania, Roma, Italia; 1978,1985,1996,1999 – Simeza Gallery, Bucharest, Romania; 1981 – KHY Gallery – Belgrade, Yugoslavia; 1986 – Craiova Art Museum, Romania; 1987 – Cultural Italian Institute, Bucharest, Romania; 1988 – Foerstemuhle Gallery, Nuremberg, Germany; 1991 – National Theatre in Bucharest; Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; 1992, 1993, 1994 – Covalenco Art Gallery, Geldrop, Holland, 1996 – Art Museum, Yugoslavia; 2001, 2016 – Art Museum, Constanţa, Romania; 2005 – Art Museum, Craiova, Romania; 2006 – Romanian Cultural Institute, Bucharest, Romania; 2014 – Silvia’s Art Gallery, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Group Exhibitions (selection)
1980 – Graphic, Painting, Sculpture exhibition, Constanţa Art Gallery, Romania; 1983 – Contemporary Romanian Art, Maastricht, Holland; 1985 – Arte Romena, Faro, Portugal; 1996 – Trelleborg, Sweden; 2000 – Saint Gallen, Switzerland; 2000 – “22 Masks – Romanian Artists, Romanian Cultural Institute, Venice, Italy; 2003 – Seoul, Korea; 2004 – Romanian Cultural Institute, Berlin, Germany; 2011 – Caminul Artei Gallery, Bucharest, Romania; 2016 – Ex-libris Constantin Brâncuşi, Constanţa, Tulcea, Bucharest, Romania.
International exhibitions (selection):
1973, 1974, 1976 – Intergrafia – Katowice, Poland; 1974 – International Graphic Biennial, Florence, Italy; 1974, 1976, 1978 – International Graphic Biennial, Cracow, Poland; 1974,1980 – Juan Miro drawing competition, Barcelona, Spain; 1975, 1977 – International Graphic Biennial, Mulhouse, France; 1977, 1979 – International Graphic Biennial, Bradford, United Kingdom; 1979 – 2016 – Slovenia, Poland, Japan, Korea, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Holland, Chile, Bulgaria, France, Greece
Awards:
1974 – International Center for Culture and Art, Rome, Italy; 1978 – Plastic Artists Union Award, Bacău, Romania; 1982, 1986 – Portrait International Biennial, Tuzla, Yugoslavia; 1986 – Plastic Artists Union Award for Graphics, Bucharest, Romania; 1992 – Plastic Artists Union Award for Graphics, National Theatre, Bucharest, Romania; 2000 – Plastic Artists Union Award for Graphics, Romanian Parliament, Bucharest, Romania; 2004 – International Biennial Constantin Gavenea – 1st price – Tulcea, Romania; 2004 – Officer in Arts, Bucharest, Romania.
Works in public collections: Museums in Oradea, Galaţi, Tulcea, Craiova, Constanţa, Bucharest
Professional activity: 1980 – present – graphic teacher – Nicolae Tonitza Art College, Bucharest, Romania; 1999-2006 – director – Nicolae Tonitza Art College, Bucharest, Romania; 2006 – Gheorghe Lazar Award for teaching activity; 2010 – PhD in Visual Arts – “Legitimating the Militant Graphic Art between Rhetoric and Efficiency”
There is no end, no beginning. There is only the unlimited passion of life! (Federico Fellini) This quote seems to match perfectly with Aurel Bulacu’s graphics, in which we can guess a melancholic regret for lost and secret lovers, the gentle smile of the artist remembering those happy shiny days at the seaside, surrounded by his joyfull friends and models. This artist never waists a moment to create: in his lightly studio in Bucharest, always listening to music on an old radio or to his favorite CDs, with one or two friends chatting in front of a glass of wine, he stands with a pencil at his desk, drawing. In front of the paper, he becomes purified, without sins and guilt, without fear of the future, humble before the uniqueness of his sacred mission. (Silvia Suciu)