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At the Outskirts of the City

Courtesy: Ivan Gallery
Courtesy: Ivan Gallery
Courtesy: Ivan Gallery
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    • At the Outskirts of the City
    • La marginea orașului
  • 1976
  • etching on paper
  • 63 × 81 cm
In 1975, Florina Coulin moved to the neighborhood of Vitan and into one of the many housing projects rapidly rising on the outskirts of Bucharest. By the following year, her then-partner Georg Coulin as well as two close friends, the couple Alexe and Floricel Sturdza, had permanently left the country. In a state of loneliness and uncertainty, she found reassurance and stability in her intense activities at the graphic workshop on Speranței Street, immersing herself for the first time in the acquaforte technique. The work shown here resulted from her first attempt to tackle acquaforte. The artist depicts a construction site, being fascinated by the dialectic of demolition and building, while also drawing a parallel between the immediate geography and her affective state. The woman standing by the small pond is pictured in a meditative pose, wondering about her future, while in the sky we see the shape of a hand holding a blade of grass, symbolizing hope. M.R.