Waiting for the snow: Remus Grecu′s poignant reflections on the malleability of the human soul
As global warming picks up the pace, we can count on there being less and less snow in the years to come. What has that got to do with anything? Let’s find out.
If this is heaven, there should be more
Remus Grecu’s work mixes the beautiful and the awful in the human condition, unlike some of the more optimistic and colourful movements in art today. Is it worth paying attention? What’s the point in concentrating on the negative, you say? Well, there’s a (you guessed it) deeper message here.
Remus Grecu. The people with the light, oil on linen, 2022, 240 x 200 cm
Remus Grecu’s latest exhibition, which will run until 4 October 2022, is a contemplation on a dichotomy of the human condition.
Take, for example, the fact that, as irresponsible climate policies continue, the climate is getting warmer and warmer, meaning we’ll be seeing less and less snow as time goes on. Sounds great, we hear you say, the less snow, the better! And at the same time, as snow and cold temperatures in general disappear, how will we perceive increasing heat? How would someone going hungry for a few days perceive a Christmas dinner? Would it be the same as for someone who gets it every day? How bright would candles burn without darkness? What would our society look like without archnemeses like hostile countries and catastrophes?
The famous saying “adversity brings out the best in you” is a cause for reflection. Conflicts bring people together. Nature designs its creatures in such a way that hunger pushes them to action and evolution. After cold winters we welcome summers with delight.
What would a unipolar world look like, if little by little darkness, cold, and hostile parties and all the things we perceive to be “bad” were to be eliminated, creating a greenhouse of an environment? Would its people devolve, slowly descending into not being able to feel? Devoid of struggle, would man appreciate comfort? Without hunger, would the best-tasting marvels of cookery taste like anything?
In his quest to explore the darker sides of humanity, Grecu unearths impressively deep concepts. At his delightfully chilly new exhibit, for instance, you get to ask yourself what good would do without evil, and is there such a thing - or a world, its people and circumstance that simply cannot be drawn in monochrome? And are we doing damage to ourselves by staying away from bad things?