The San Francisco Art Institute presents
DAN PERJOVSCHI: The Institute Drawing


The San Francisco Art Institute, which distinguishes itself with its insistence on interdisciplinary study, and which has been home to faculty and resident artists such as Diego Rivera, Mark Rothko and Edward Weston, welcomes the Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi. Perjovschi's residency at SFAI culminates in his first U.S. West Coast solo exhibition, held at the Walter and McBean Galleries and curated by Hou Hanru, opened on June 16.

Known for playful social and political commentaries in the form of ephemeral wall drawings in museums, biennials and galleries, Perjovschi responds to his immediate environment, delivering a personal interpretation of that which defines the local atmosphere of his given context. In this case, he uses his residency, which includes student workshops, studio visits and a public lecture, as a point of inquiry, recording his stay by translating media into images. His work often reflects on contemporary culture – often, as it is portrayed in the media – with a sense of humor and irony, inviting multiple interpretations and inverting the media's representations of social and geopolitical realities.

In September, SFAI welcomes back Dan Perjovschi for a series of workshops and a public lecture as part SFAI’s Visiting Artists and Scholars lecture program, on September 13.

"The artistic voice [Perjovschi] developed as his native land began to turn away from Ceauşescu-style communism toward its 2007 inclusion in the EU," writes curator Hou Hanru, "is a voice that retains the traces of its passage—the madness of political austerity and censorship having been transmuted into a method of simplicity and candor, at once humorous and pungently critical."

Dan Perjovschi, born in Sibiu, Romania in 1961, lives and works in Bucharest, Romania. Recent and current exhibitions include 'Walldrawing,' Vanabbemuseum, The Netherlands; 'Dan Perjovschi: Late News,' Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; 'Dan Perjovschi,' Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York.

'Dan Perjovschi: The Institute Drawing' is presented as part of Global Figures, a component of SFAI’s Exhibitions and Public Programs, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. Global Figures presents one-person projects of major artists from different cultures who have importantly influenced the current global art scene. Perjovschi will be in residence at SFAI for a two-week period, during which time he will create the drawings that will comprise his exhibition.


[Image: Dan Perjovschi, You Remember My Pin?, 2008, white chalk on black walls, detail of installation view, Lombard-Freid Projects in New York City. See it below in larger format]