Ana Lupas at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
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The exhibition by Ana Lupas at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (KML) that opened in November of 2024 marks the second station in a European tour begun in May 2024 at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Each exhibition in this tour has been based on its own distinct concept specifically tailored by the artist to its venue’s architectural layout and designed to highlight works by her that are already part of the collection in question: namely, those of “Coats to Borrow” at the Stedelijk and “Eyes” at KML. To this end, the artist has collaborated closely with curators Leontine Coelewij (Amsterdam) and Letizia Ragaglia (Vaduz).
The present exhibition is characterized by its novelty. Of its five rooms, two showcase work series that have never before been exhibited in their present form: “Eyes” and “Self-Portrait (1 to 200)”. Two other rooms feature distinctive presentations of the iconic works “Identity Shirt” and “Humid Installation.” The fifth room contains an installation entitled “Coats to Borrow” that intersects with the exhibition at the Stedelijk. Unlike at the Stedelijk, where the political and activist dimension of Ana Lupas’s art was also discussed, the exhibition at KML focuses—as its title, “Ana Lupas. Intimate Space – Open Gaze” would suggest—on a conceptually oriented and introspective theme.
The Kunstmuseum boasts exceptionally spacious halls, enabling the exhibition’s design to create a distinct pathway leading to visual surprises and breathtaking moments. One begins in a vast room that serves to stage a “morphic minefield” consisting of twenty-one massive eyeballs from the series “Eyes” (1974–1991). These eyes take on a surreal quality due to their size, with each porcelain globe measuring 71 cm in diameter, and are further enhanced by realistic trompe l’œil artwork. “Each eye is assigned a specific destination: observation, human knowledge, divine omniscience, protection or punishment, surveillance, suffering, and the absence of freedom. Some of the eyes even possess identities reflected in their titles: ‘Terrestrial and Celestial Eyes,’ ‘Day / Night Eyes,’ ‘Imprisoned Eyes,’ ‘Eyes behind Bars,’ and so on.”¹
In a mesmerizing display reminiscent of a charade, all of the eyes are trained upon a wall featuring ten carefully selected paintings. Nine of these works were chosen from the museum’s collection by the artist, who has assumed the role of curator here for an exhibition within the exhibition (“mise en abyme”). These nine works are from the hands of renowned artists from various eras, namely Frans Hals, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Willem de Kooning, Herbert Zangs, Bernardo Licinio da Pordenone, Jan de Bray, Isidore Isou, Alexej von Jawlensky, and Giulio Paolini. Amidst these illustrious names, there is one more: that of Livia Pop, represented by an ad hoc still life from Cluj. On one of the adjacent walls, a visual triangulation of sorts is effected by a single image: a framed black-and-white photograph of an elegant young woman painting at an easel. The pedestal and the archway with which this photograph has been combined serve to create a delicate tribute to her. This artwork’s label indicates that the photo is from 1904 and shows Ana Lupas’s grandmother, whose aforementioned still life dates from 1905. By providing this unique opportunity for her grandmother to be showcased in a prominent museum for several months, Ana Lupas honors the memory of this talented forebear—who devoted her life to her family and social roles and was even decorated by the Pope for her contributions. Ana, who has emerged as a leading figure in contemporary European art, gracefully brings her grandmother’s legacy to the forefront of a major exhibition, here, paying homage to her artistic talent. I have emphasized these intricate relationships presented in the exhibition’s first hall in order to highlight the artist’s sustained effort to stage and restore the lives of family members who were unable to fulfill their own destinies.
The second room is similarly designed with a restorative, Orphic theme. At its center, a brightly colored painting—similar to a macro photograph and featuring chromatic interventions—envisions a cenotaph dedicated to the artist’s great-grandmother Clara Maniu, who was a political activist and suffragette. This work dates back to 1972 and measures approximately 400 x 300 cm. As in the first room, a play of intertwined gazes enhances and enchants the space, evoking the ritual reactivation of a destiny: the symbolic catafalque is surrounded by “Self-Portrait (1 to 200),” comprising two hundred overdrawn copies of a single poster. These hang opposite unmodified copies of the original, a poster for a 1998 exhibition in Székesfehérvár. These posters create a solemn corridor that brings about a dizzying visual acceleration, also forming an honor guard of sorts that protects and focuses its four hundred eyes upon the recumbent image. It is thus that Ana Lupas effectively utilizes serial imagery here as a means of exorcism and resurrection.
The third room is devoted to “Humid Installation” avatars. They comprise a first-ever methodical presentation of the works that preceded and followed the artist’s “Humid Installation” of 1970 within one and the same space. They are visually organized into four groups, as sequenced by the artist. The two studies modeled in epoxy resin that served as the basis for the aluminum elements of the “Monument of Cloth” (2019) are displayed in this room. They are held in place with construction site clamps and mounted on various supports made from iron, concrete, and brick, which emphasizes how these studies were conceived as expedients for use as part of the working process.
The fourth room offers a unique experience in that it showcases all four generations of the “Identity Shirt” (from 1969 to 2023) together for the first time while also featuring the “Cherub Shirt” and the “Seraph Shirt” (both 1970). These pieces make for a coherent display that emphasizes their historical connections and how they all revolve around the theme of identity—an important concern of Ana Lupas that she continues to explore.
The exhibition concludes with a work that links back to the display at the Stedelijk: the installation entitled “Coats to Borrow,” which is part of the collection in Amsterdam. Created in 1989, the year in which Romania’s communist regime fell, these nomadic garments were designed for the young Romanian artists associated with the Atelier 35 group, which the artist led at that time.² These garments are possessed of profound testimonial significance today.
Ramona Novicov
English version: Nicolaie Ardelean
Ramona Novicov is an art critic and art historian and member of the scientific committee of ATRIUM – Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. She is the author of four books and numerous specialized studies focusing on art and architecture. Novikov currently works at the University of Oradea, where she teaches History of Art and Architecture and Study of Form.
1
Marina Lupas, “Eyes,” 2022, unpublished interview of the author. The interview will be published later this year in the journal “Crisia” published by the Țării Crișurilor Museum in Oradea.
2
The metal furniture was made by Ana Lupas in the second half of the 1990s.
https://www.kontakt-collection.org/people/334/ana-lupas/objects
February 2025
The present exhibition is characterized by its novelty. Of its five rooms, two showcase work series that have never before been exhibited in their present form: “Eyes” and “Self-Portrait (1 to 200)”. Two other rooms feature distinctive presentations of the iconic works “Identity Shirt” and “Humid Installation.” The fifth room contains an installation entitled “Coats to Borrow” that intersects with the exhibition at the Stedelijk. Unlike at the Stedelijk, where the political and activist dimension of Ana Lupas’s art was also discussed, the exhibition at KML focuses—as its title, “Ana Lupas. Intimate Space – Open Gaze” would suggest—on a conceptually oriented and introspective theme.
The Kunstmuseum boasts exceptionally spacious halls, enabling the exhibition’s design to create a distinct pathway leading to visual surprises and breathtaking moments. One begins in a vast room that serves to stage a “morphic minefield” consisting of twenty-one massive eyeballs from the series “Eyes” (1974–1991). These eyes take on a surreal quality due to their size, with each porcelain globe measuring 71 cm in diameter, and are further enhanced by realistic trompe l’œil artwork. “Each eye is assigned a specific destination: observation, human knowledge, divine omniscience, protection or punishment, surveillance, suffering, and the absence of freedom. Some of the eyes even possess identities reflected in their titles: ‘Terrestrial and Celestial Eyes,’ ‘Day / Night Eyes,’ ‘Imprisoned Eyes,’ ‘Eyes behind Bars,’ and so on.”¹
In a mesmerizing display reminiscent of a charade, all of the eyes are trained upon a wall featuring ten carefully selected paintings. Nine of these works were chosen from the museum’s collection by the artist, who has assumed the role of curator here for an exhibition within the exhibition (“mise en abyme”). These nine works are from the hands of renowned artists from various eras, namely Frans Hals, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Willem de Kooning, Herbert Zangs, Bernardo Licinio da Pordenone, Jan de Bray, Isidore Isou, Alexej von Jawlensky, and Giulio Paolini. Amidst these illustrious names, there is one more: that of Livia Pop, represented by an ad hoc still life from Cluj. On one of the adjacent walls, a visual triangulation of sorts is effected by a single image: a framed black-and-white photograph of an elegant young woman painting at an easel. The pedestal and the archway with which this photograph has been combined serve to create a delicate tribute to her. This artwork’s label indicates that the photo is from 1904 and shows Ana Lupas’s grandmother, whose aforementioned still life dates from 1905. By providing this unique opportunity for her grandmother to be showcased in a prominent museum for several months, Ana Lupas honors the memory of this talented forebear—who devoted her life to her family and social roles and was even decorated by the Pope for her contributions. Ana, who has emerged as a leading figure in contemporary European art, gracefully brings her grandmother’s legacy to the forefront of a major exhibition, here, paying homage to her artistic talent. I have emphasized these intricate relationships presented in the exhibition’s first hall in order to highlight the artist’s sustained effort to stage and restore the lives of family members who were unable to fulfill their own destinies.
The second room is similarly designed with a restorative, Orphic theme. At its center, a brightly colored painting—similar to a macro photograph and featuring chromatic interventions—envisions a cenotaph dedicated to the artist’s great-grandmother Clara Maniu, who was a political activist and suffragette. This work dates back to 1972 and measures approximately 400 x 300 cm. As in the first room, a play of intertwined gazes enhances and enchants the space, evoking the ritual reactivation of a destiny: the symbolic catafalque is surrounded by “Self-Portrait (1 to 200),” comprising two hundred overdrawn copies of a single poster. These hang opposite unmodified copies of the original, a poster for a 1998 exhibition in Székesfehérvár. These posters create a solemn corridor that brings about a dizzying visual acceleration, also forming an honor guard of sorts that protects and focuses its four hundred eyes upon the recumbent image. It is thus that Ana Lupas effectively utilizes serial imagery here as a means of exorcism and resurrection.
The third room is devoted to “Humid Installation” avatars. They comprise a first-ever methodical presentation of the works that preceded and followed the artist’s “Humid Installation” of 1970 within one and the same space. They are visually organized into four groups, as sequenced by the artist. The two studies modeled in epoxy resin that served as the basis for the aluminum elements of the “Monument of Cloth” (2019) are displayed in this room. They are held in place with construction site clamps and mounted on various supports made from iron, concrete, and brick, which emphasizes how these studies were conceived as expedients for use as part of the working process.
The fourth room offers a unique experience in that it showcases all four generations of the “Identity Shirt” (from 1969 to 2023) together for the first time while also featuring the “Cherub Shirt” and the “Seraph Shirt” (both 1970). These pieces make for a coherent display that emphasizes their historical connections and how they all revolve around the theme of identity—an important concern of Ana Lupas that she continues to explore.
The exhibition concludes with a work that links back to the display at the Stedelijk: the installation entitled “Coats to Borrow,” which is part of the collection in Amsterdam. Created in 1989, the year in which Romania’s communist regime fell, these nomadic garments were designed for the young Romanian artists associated with the Atelier 35 group, which the artist led at that time.² These garments are possessed of profound testimonial significance today.
Ramona Novicov
English version: Nicolaie Ardelean
Ramona Novicov is an art critic and art historian and member of the scientific committee of ATRIUM – Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. She is the author of four books and numerous specialized studies focusing on art and architecture. Novikov currently works at the University of Oradea, where she teaches History of Art and Architecture and Study of Form.
1
Marina Lupas, “Eyes,” 2022, unpublished interview of the author. The interview will be published later this year in the journal “Crisia” published by the Țării Crișurilor Museum in Oradea.
2
The metal furniture was made by Ana Lupas in the second half of the 1990s.
https://www.kontakt-collection.org/people/334/ana-lupas/objects
February 2025