Steinhauser Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia

Trodena is a picturesque municipality with a nine hundred years of history nestled within the mountain massifs of South Tyrol. The city of Cluj is the unofficial capital of the historical region of Transylvania in northwestern Romania. The two are 1,469 miles apart. After the fall of Communism, the pristine landscape in the isolation of the Monte Corno Natural Park and the vibrant university town filled with bohemian bars and cafés went through a challenging transformation from totalitarianism to the early capitalism of the new Romanian society, paralleling the changes across the country. The tumultuous times sparked an extraordinary determination among artists, as is particularly evident in visual arts. That has triggered the emergence of a remarkable group of talented artists. Since 2007, they started to refer to themselves as the Cluj School.

Theirs is by no means a stylistically unified movement. It is largely shaped by painters who utilize a darker palette and expressive style, presenting stark images of post-Communist Romania. Trodena and Cluj are highlighted for their profound differences, yet also for the powerful interpersonal bond and friendship between Robert Bosisio and Sergiu Toma. Their connection is further enriched by a shared love for painting. For Bosisio, the passion manifests as silence, metaphysical contemplation and extensive analytical research of recurring themes. In contrast, Toma’s journey is more fraught, marked by burnout from the pressures of artistic creation and a retreat into solitude. …

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