Biography
Dani Gherca (Bucharest, 1988) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, followed by a Master Post Laura at HISK in Ghent, Belgium.
He uses photography to examine the concepts of urbanity, scale and disconnection. His large-scale photographs reflect on the current transition to a new phase of human consciousness that we do not yet fully understand, where life changes faster due to technological disruptions.Ghercă’s cityscapes, in a time when life is changing faster than we can comprehend due to technological disruptions, the city is no longer represented by architecture or people but is reduced to an endless flow of data. By underexposing his pictures and twisting the image’s perspective, he creates confusion, evoking a sense of urban and social alienation many of us experience today in a world that is changing at a super-fast pace.
Prior to his current practice (between 2010 and 2019) he worked on different projects that document the social and economic shifts that occurred as a result of the Romanian Revolution and the country’s EU membership. Some of the main subjects of his earlier works include marginalized groups living in a maze of underground tunnels in Bucharest (“Tunnels and Pipes” 2011-2015) or the decay of communist working-class neighbourhoods in Romania (“A Diagram of Utopia” 2014-2017).
For the complete portfolio | per ricevere il portfolio completo dell’artista info@cragallery.com
SELECTED WORKS
His latest and ongoing series A Glimpse of Disconnection (2020- ) is not made in Bucharest, at least not the act of shooting. Aerial cityscapes from, so far, Paris, Berlin, London, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur form the basis of this work although the locations are unidentifiable. Their interchangeability is key in the series and mainly attained through the use of Photoshop. It is not the first time Ghercă, who currently lives between Bucharest and Brussels, interferes on the images after photographing them. In Bucharest, for example, he has experimented with light leak-like exposure in the darkroom before developing the films. Some of the resulting images seem older, worn out or accidental. But in the new series, the gestures involved in the post-production have clearly grown in importance (Daniella Geo).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Education:
2013-2015: MFA, Photography, National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania
2010-2013: BFA, Photography, National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania
Selection solo exhibitions:
2024: The Sublime – CAFA Museum, Beijing, China
2024: A Glimpse of Disconnection – Choi Art Centre, Beijing, China
2022: The Constant Flow – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
Selection group exhibitions:
2024: The Meeting Between a Blade and an Orange – Conector / OFF-Space, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2024: The Twist. Failing Empires, Triumphant Provinces – MNAC, Bucharest, Romania
2023: Five Provincial Stories from an Empire – Kunsthalle Bega, Timisoara, Romania
2023: Poetics of Politics – Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels, Belgium
2023: On Photography, Art Encounters Foundation, Timisoara, Romania
2022: Redrawing the Lines – IKOB, Eupen, Belgium, Curators Daniella Geo
2022: In and out, out and In – Jecza Gallery, Timisoara, Romania, Curator Ami Barak
2022: Stimulans 2022 – Paardenstallen, Kortrijk, Belgium
2021: Various Positions – HISK Gosset, Brussels, Belgium, Curator Sam Steverlynck
2021: PULS 20 – Kunsthalle Bega, Timisoara, Romania, Curator Calin Dan
2021: Crossing the Same Circumstances – Kommunale Galerie Berlin, Germany
2021: Park Portraits – Sonsbeek Quadriennale, Arnhem, Netherlands
2021: HISK AFFAIR – HISK Gosset, Brussels, Belgium
2021: New Songs for Old Cities – Netwerk, Aalst, Belgium
2020: 12 Years After. A Survey of Romanian Art in 180 Works – MNAC, Bucharest, Romania
2020: ZOMERSALON, Kunsthal Gent, Belgium
2020: Artivirals, Maaltebruggekasteel, Gent, Belgium
2020: Stalinallee Iconoclasm – Urban Nation Museum, Berlin, Germany
2019: Framed Landscapes – Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain
2019: You Have Always Seen the Unseen – MNAC, Bucharest, Romania
2018: JCE – Science and Art center “Bruzis”, Cesis, Latvia
2018: Remembering Landscapes – MNAC, Bucharest, Romania
2017: Sinapse – Borderline Art Space, Iasi, Romania
2017: Bucuresti: straturi si perspective – A5 Studio Space – Bucharest, Romania
2017: Jeune Création Européene Biennale – Beffroi, Montrouge, France
2017: People’s City, LOOK/17 – Tate Exchange Liverpool, England
2016: D Platform – Posibila Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2015: Diversity of Voices – ESSL Museum, Vienna, Austria
2015: Art Prize CBM – Areacreativa42, Casa Toesca, Turin, Italy,
2015: StartPoint Prize, Victoria Art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2015: Promenades Photographiques Festival, Vendome, France
2015: ESSL Art Award CEE Romania, Victoria Art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
Selection art fairs:
2025: Art Basel Hong Kong with MSAC, Taipei, Taiwan
2024: Art Brussels with MSAC, Taipei, Taiwan
2024: Photofairs Shanghai (Shanghai, China) with Swatch Art Peace, Shanghai, China
Artist residencies:
2023: Swatch Art Peace, Shanghai, China (Oct 2023 – May 2024)
2022: ArtContest Be, Brussels, Belgium (Jan 2022 – Apr 2022)
2021: Frans Masereel Centre, Kasterlee, Belgium (Jun 2021 – Jul 2021)
2020: HISK – Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Gent, Belgium (Mar 2020 – Dec 2021)2019: Urban Nation Museum – Berlin, Germany (Sep 2019 – Mar 2020)
Awards:
2022: Winner Stimulans 2022 – Proximus Prize, Kortrijk, Belgium
2020: Winner Bourse Image SOFAM, Brussels, Belgium
2017: Finalist Felix Schoeller Photo Award, Osnabruck, Germany
2017: Winner Jeune Creation Europeenne (Romania selection) – Montrouge, France
2015: Winner ESSL Art Award CEE (Romania selection), Vienna, Austria
Selection artist talks, lectures, workshops:
2024: Workshop – Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
2024: Lecture – CAFA Museum, Beijing, China
2021: Artist talk – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
2021: Artist talk – Scena9, Bucharest, Romania
2021: Artist talk – École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels of La Cambre, Bruxelles, Belgium
Selection books & catalogues:
2024: 300 ARTIȘTI ROMÂNI 1990-2020, Propagarta, Bucharest
2024: PULS20 / HEARTBEAT20, MNAC, Bucharest
2022: Arta Magazine #60-61, Bucharest
2022: INFLUX, Bucharest
2022: STIMULANS 2022, Kortrijk
2020: Kunst Magazine, Gent
2019: Framed Landscapes – Museo ICO, Madrid
2018: Remembering Landscape – Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen
2016: Still Cursing: Volume II, Derby
2016: theFIX Magazine Issue 6, Dublin 2015: Diversity of Voices, Vienna
2015: Camera Austria no. 130, Vienna
2015: RoArchive, Bucharest
2015: Incandescent Zine Issue 8, Portland
Selection online publications:
https://landscapestories.net/en/archive/2018/cities/projects/dani-gherca
https://prisonphotography.org/tag/dani-gherca/ https://fkmagazine.lv/2015/12/14/a-diagram-of-
utopia/
https://www.aint-bad.com/tag/dani-gherca/ https://newlandscapephotography.com/2017/11/09/
dani-gherca/
https://medium.com/@brookpete/alone-in-their-bed-b4df62314d4e
https://www.calvertjournal.com/features/show/6524/power-architecture-romania-urbanism-
bucharest
Works in public collections:
MOMUS, Thessaloniki, Greece
MNAC, Bucharest, Romania
ING Collection, Amsterdam, Nederland
Proximus Collection, Brussels, Belgium
Swatch Group Art Collection, Biel, Switzerland
SMAK, Gent, Belgium
MARE Museum, Bucharest, Romania
ESSL Museum (now part of the Albertina Museum Collection), Vienna, Austria