NEW YORK, NY.- Jane Lombard Gallery is presenting Now & Then, a solo exhibition of new and existing works by gallery artist Dan Perjovschi. For his fifth solo exhibition with the gallery, Perjovschi revisits his hallmark in-situ drawings and graphic notations, offering sharp, satirical assertions on contemporary politics and social movements. In dialogue with new works on paper, the gallery will display Perjovschis 1994 series, Postcards from America, thirty years after their debut. Playful and speculative, Perjovschis perspective depicts his observations of America as personal adventures. The exhibition runs from November 1st - December 14th.
Dan Perjovschi uses drawings, wordplay and site-specific installations to portray current events. His works conduct a humorous and sharp critique of international media and government players. Through rapidly executed sketchbook images and text, the artist transforms the gallery into a space of relatable frustrations with socio-political conditions. Revisiting his seminal work, Postcards from America (1994), the gallery displays the series of 500 ink and graphite paper drawings created during Perjovschis first trip to the United States. Perjovschi once said of the series: "Postcards from America is a happy testimony of a trip I made cross-country as part of a USIA grant, which allowed me to travel east, west, north, and south, to big cities, middle-of-nowhere towns, and coast to coast from New York to Topanga Canyon and from San Francisco to New Orleans. It was fantastic. My first encounter with the enormity and diversity of America was like a kid's adventure book. I was seduced by America, so I called the series Postcards.
Rectangles of black paint are delineated, upon which Perjovschi spontaneously creates witty and incisive chalk drawings that reflect current civic and social events, such as the 2024 US Presidential election. This is juxtaposed against old and new drawings that point to the state of America. The comparison between his old and existing works also speaks to the optimism of the 1990s that feels starkly absent in the 2020s. Both framed and unframed and of varying sizes, Perjovschi refers to these three walls as his drawings bonanza.
Maintaining an ephemeral foundation, Perjovschi does not ignore the inherent contradictions of the socioeconomic privileged arena where his work can be found. To violence, opulence and extremism, he responds with puns, laughter and ridicule as the protection of freedom. Thirty years after the first Postcards were made, the work feels just as pertinent. Supplementing the exhibition is a tote bag for purchase, produced by the gallery and upon which is printed a text-based drawing by Perjovschi. Proceeds from the sale of the tote bags will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Dan Perjovschi (b. 1961, Sibiu, Romania) lives and works in Bucharest, Romania. He received his MFA from George Enescu Conservatoire of Fine Arts, Romania (1985). Awards include the Rosa Schapire Art Prize (2016); European Cultural Foundation Princess Margriet Award (2013); and the George Maciunas Prize (2004). Notable residencies include the Spencer Museum, Kansas (2010) and Collective Gallery, Edinburgh (2004). Perjovschi has exhibited at Taubman Museum of Art, Virginia (2023); Kunsthalle Prague, Czech Republic (2023); Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria (2023); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece (2023); Fridericianum Museum, Germany (2022); Goethe Institut, Romania (2021); Instituto de Vision, Columbia (2020); Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Slovenia (2019); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2019); Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio (2018); Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany (2016); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Reykjavik Museum of Art, Iceland (2012); Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (2011); Spencer Museum, Kansas (2010); San Francisco Art Institute, California (2010); Tate Modern, London (2006); Kunsthaus Baselland, Switzerland (2008); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2007); Tate Modern, London (2006); and Ludwig Museum, Germany (2005). Public collections that have acquired Perjovschis work include the Ludwig Museum, Budapest; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Moderna Museet, Sweden; Tate Collection, London; Nasher Museum of Art, North Carolina; and Walker Art Centre, Minnesota.