Ionbitzan : Ion Bitzan Catalogue Raisonné

Ion Bitzan Catalogue Raisonné

Ion Bitzan, Ion Bițan, Romanian, Artist, 1924-1997, Works on paper, Paintings, Objects and installations, Ceramics, Public art, Album and book covers, Ion Bitzan Foundation

Ion Bitzan (1924-1997) belongs to a Romanian generation of great talents, manifest in the brief period of détente between 1962-1974 approximately, who developed a body of work that can be ascribed to international conceptualism and minimalism. His career was highlighted by participations to the most important international Biennales of the time, and his works are in the collection of prestigious institutions like the MoMA, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In contrast to other colleagues who later emigrated, or adopted formulas insulating them from politics, Ion Bitzan devised a different strategy – original and at the same time risky. Parallel to his research into the history of international experimental art, and a subsequent production of approximate 1200 works, Bitzan also produced works commissioned by and dedicated to the Communist Party and its leader. Călin Dan, curator Prisoners of the Avant-garde. A retrospective Ion Bitzan National Museum of Contemporary Art MNAC-Bucharest, November 2017-May 2018. The oeuvre of Ion Bitzan reveals a period full of nuances and shadows, when artistic innovation and political art co-existed in a complicated relation