Page 210 - "he 2020 Guggenheim issue of World of Art Contemporary Art Magazine

THE PHILOSOPHER, 2001SILICONE SCULPTURE 47.2X86.6X88.7 IN. | 120X220X126 CM.
INVITED ARTIST OVERHEAD PROJECTOR, 2016 SILICONE SCULPTURE 39.3X19.6X23.6 IN. | 100X50X60 CM.
LOOKING FOR IDENTITY, 2012 SILICONE SCULPTURE 98.4X78.7X51.1 IN. | 240X200X130 CM.

VIRGILIUS MOLDOVAN

Lives and works in Vienna, Austria
https://www.virgiliusmoldovan.info/

“NAKED” The Giant World of Virgilius Moldovan. environment, and it has been my experience that it can be
Apart from their creative content, Virgilius Moldovan’s monumental threatening to both the sensitive male and female viewer, as well
works are impressive technical feats, achieved alone, exploiting the as being a cause of controversy and censorship. For Moldovan,
classic techniques of clay modeling and plaster casting. The actual the erect penis is simply a useful symbol of dominance. For the
silicone material of the works themselves and Virgil`s original formula figurative sculptor, the naked figure can be compared to the painters
for it`s coloring give the sculptures a unique surface, both visually blank canvas, and it is with it as his potent starting point, Moldovan
and texturally. explores our fundamental emotions. The giant scale of his people,
the powerfully real quality of his modeling, make clear the convincing
Over the last ten years, all of Virgilius Moldovan`s sculptures of quality of his conclusions.
people have been without clothes. Nakedness gives the works a
raw power. Naked we are at our most vulnerable. Naked we are at Virgilius Moldovan and I would like to thank the City of Linz and the
our most primitive. Naked we are at our most anxious. Naked we Tobacco Factory`s administration for the hosting of this exhibition.
can be at our most innocent or our most decadent and we have the We would particularly like to thank the Tobacco Factory`s Artistic
potential to show either our puritanical nature or our sexuality. Director, Chris Müller, and Linz Culture Director, Julius Stieber for
Naked we have nowhere to hide. In a conservative society, their encouragement and efforts in staging the Exhibition. We would
nakedness is alienation. Incongruously, the perfectly natural also like to thank Linz Tourism`s Georg Steiner for his assistance in
erect penis is taboo within the confines of a tasteful art gallery facilitating the exhibition`s arrangements. (Nicholas Treadwell)

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