Eugenia Mangra

STATEMENT

Concerning my creations, I take my inspiration out of the nature, I am fascinated by the interference of the four elements: fire, water, sky and earth. I am also interested in the intensity of the light at different times of the day, and its influence over the colors. The intensity of human emotions is another theme which has a lot of my attention. I try to filter all these through my personality and express them with certain symbols (sometimes geometrical) and mostly though color.
The majority of my paintings are abstract compositions, sometimes combined with figurative elements, created with mixed media on stretched canvas. The heavy dripping goes across the paintings leaving gesture to its ultimate level of freedom. Present in a wide range of rhythms, it confers a dynamic aspect to the paintings.
In my view, painting is part of the spectacle of life, it is a continuous source of energy and balance.

EDUCATION & BIO

I was born in Salonta, a small lovely Romanian town. Currently, I live in Oradea, a town in the Transylvania region of Romania. I have graduated from the University of Visual Arts Oradea and I am a member of the Romanian Professional Artists Association, painting Department.  
My works can be found in private collections in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia.

A selected list of my EXHIBITIONS is as follows:

2022 - International Festival of Arts Recycling Therapies Education, curator dr. prof. Ofelia Hutul, Iasi, Romania  

2022 - International Exhibition Contest EMINESCIANA, curator dr. prof. Ofelia Hutul, Iasi, Romania  

2021 - Visual Art Exhibition CAREU DE DAME, ION NEAGOE Art Galleries, Iasi, Romania 2021 - Moldavian Salons, C. Brancusi Exhibition Center, Chisinau, Moldova 2021- CONSTRUCT - SALON 2021, curator dr. Ramona Novicov, art historian and art critic, Oradea REPERAJ Fortress Gallery, Romania  

2021 - Luminescence, curator dr. Ramona Novicov, art historian art critic, Oradea REPERAJ Fortress Gallery, Romania  

2020 - After 30 years - look back to the future, Teodora Talhos - curator, REPERAJ CETATE 

Galleries, Oradea, Romania  

2019 - ART AND EXPERIMENT - MATRIX, Oradea REPERAJ Fortress Gallery, Romania

2019 - UAP Art Salon, Oradea REPERAJ Fortress Gallery, Romania

2019 - Visual Art Exhibition CAREU DE DAME, ION NEAGOE Art Galleries, Iasi, Romania

2019 - Rochester Contemporary Art Center, NY, U. S. A.

2018 - 100 ANNUAL CENTENARY SALON, REPERAJ CETATE Galleries, Oradea, Romania

2018 - International Festival A. R. T. E., Victoria Gallery, Iasi, Romania

2018 - Rochester Contemporary Art Center, NY, U. S. A.
2018 - Palace of the Parliament Bucharest, C. Brancusi Hall, Biennale of Arts THE STORIES OF THE UNICORN, Bucharest, Romania
2018 - World Fair Exhibition, Canton Museum of Art, Ohio, U. S. A.
2017 - UAP Art Salon, Oradea Fortress Gallery, Romania
2017 - LASCAR VOREL National Art Biennale, Piatra - Neamt Art Museum, Romania
2017 - Moldavian Salons, C. Brancusi Exhibition Center, Chisinau, Moldova
2017 - FEMINA INVICTA Exhibition, Carol Galleries, Bucharest, Romania
2016 - Bridges and Signs, UAP Art Gallery, Oradea, Romania
2016 - ArtRiyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2016 - International Exhibition Contest EMINESCIANA VI, N.TONITZA Art Galery, Iasi, Barlad, Romania (awarded with Distinction of Dr. Constantin Teodorescu Cultural Foundation, Barlad)
2016 - International Exhibition ART. CONTEMPORARY VISIONS, Cupola Art Gallery, Iasi, Romania
2015 - Municipal Art Salon Oradea - National Museum of Fine Arts, Chisinau, Republic of Mold
Ova
2015 - National Art Biennial, Piatra Neamt Art Museum, Romania
2015 - Moldavian Salons, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
2015 - Selected by the international Selections Committee to participate in the 10th Edition of the Florence Biennale, Italy
2015 - Zenit Nadir Gallery, Oradea, Romania
2014 - Municipal Art Salon, Crisurilor County Museum, Oradea, Romania
2014 - Palace of the Parliament Bucharest, C. Brancusi Hall, International Art Salon
2013 - Crisurilor County Museum, Baroque Palace, Oradea, Romania
2013 - International Biennial of Painting CHISINAU - 2013, Moldova
2013 - International Exhibition, BALCIC – Artists Without Borders, Ruse, Bulgaria
2012 - International Exhibition, Silistra Art Gallery, Bulgaria
2012 - SAFTH Expo 2012, Newaygo, Michigan, USA
2012 - National Fine Art Exhibition, Cultural Center "George Topirceanu" Curtea de Arges, Romania
2012 - National Salon of Fine Arts "Attitudes", Miercurea Ciuc, Romania
2012 - UAP ARTEX Gallery, Ramnicu Valcea, Romania
2011 - National Fine Art Exhibition, UNESCO Cultural Center “Ionel Perlea” Slobozia, Romania
2011 - National Salon of Fine Arts "Contemporary Attitudes", Curtea de Arges, Romania
2011 - UAP Gallery Tonitza, Iasi, Romania
2011 - SALON D’ETE 2011, Galerie Art Present , Paris
2011 - National Salon of Fine Arts "Contemporary Attitudes", Tulcea, Romania
2011 - “Maria Filotti” Theater, Braila, Romania
2011 - Ion Andreescu Gallery, Buzau, Romania
2011 - UAP ARTEX Gallery, Ramnicu Valcea, Romania
2011 - Art Gallery Hunedoara, Romania
2011 - “Tony Bulandra” Theater, Targoviste, Romania
2010 - "Ion Andreescu Biennale", Buzau, Romania
2010 - National Fine Art Exhibition, UNESCO Cultural Center “Ionel Perlea” Slobozia, Romania
2010 - National Salon - Competition of Fine Arts "Contemporary Attitudes", Curtea de Arges, Romania (awarded with Diploma of Excellence)
2009 - Crisana Gallery, Felix , Romania
2006 - Decoration of Rodenta Stomatology Clinic, Oradea, Romania
2005 - Cultural Centre Liviu Rebreanu, Aiud, Romania
2004 - Crisurilor County Museum, Baroque Palace , Oradea, Romania
2001 - 2004 - Oradea Fortress Gallery, Romania
2000 - Michigan, USA
1990 - 2000 - Crisana Gallery, Felix , Romania
1995 - Military Circle Oradea, Romania
1994 - Lotus Hotel Gallery, Felix, Romania
1993 - Military Circle, Oradea, Romania
1991 - Art-Expo. Vat, Hungary
1991 - Art-Expo. Budapesta, Va, Hungary
1990 - Schwedt , Lewerkusen, Germany
1990 - Crisana Gallery, Felix, Romania
1987 - Dalles Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

AWARDS

Painting Prize, CAREU DE DAME Exhibition,2021  

Painting Prize - Iasi identities,Visual Art Exhibition, 2020  

Diploma of Excellence - Portrait and Self-Portrait - Visual Art Exhibition, Iasi, Romania, 2020

Painting Prize - Portrait and Self-Portrait - Visual Art Exhibition - Iasi, Romania, 2020, 

Diploma of Excellence, CAREU DE DAME Exhibition, UAPR Iasi, Iasi, Romania 2019 

Painting Prize, CAREU DE DAME Exhibition, UAPR Iasi - Iasi, Romania 2019 

International Competition of Eminescian Creation VI, Distinction of the Dr. Constantin Teodorescu Cultural Foundation, Barlad 2016 (International)  

Artslant 1st 2014 Showcase Winner (International)  

Silver Award, Artmajeur, 2012 (International)  

Artslant 4th 2011 Showcase Winner (International)  

Silver Award, Artmajeur, 2010 (International)  

National Salon - Competition of Fine Arts - Contemporary Attitudes, Diploma of Excellence, Curtea de Arges, Romania 2010 (National)  

Artslant Juried Showcase Winner, 2009 (International)  

REVIEW
Like a multicolored stained glass, the paintings of the artist Eugenia Mangra have a specific impact, generated by the intense and vivid brightness of the spectral colors, arranged in a subtle balance, and alternating between the solar shades of red, yellow, orange and the cold ones of blue, green, violet. Whatever the addressed motif, abstract compositions help define a subjective style, a universe of wonderful beauty, where the alert graphism separates the mosaics of color shades.

The modernism of the images derives from the dynamism of plastic expression: color spaces defined by undulating lines crisscrossing large, pictorial surfaces, giving rise to random rhythms, always unique, enriched by the specific footprint of the dripping. Through the specific processes of gestural painting, Eugenia Mangra transfers on canvas not only her primordial passion for color, but also the emotion, the intensity of the feelings induced by the beauty of creation, synthesized by four elements: Fire, Water, Sky and Earth. The intense and rich brightness of the solar shades help define the symbolic meaning of the works, the artist frequently explores cosmic implications, but also the spiritual or passionate side of the fire element. Depending on the subject of the work, the red color corresponds to the sun, the summer, or to emotion, heart passions and inner fire: The Land of the Sun, Burning Light, Under the Moonlight, Triumph of the Sun, Dawn, Sunshine through the Rain, Seasons of the Sun, Sunset Touch, The Birth of the Phoenix, The Glow of Love, The Passion of Life, Love, The Rhythm of Love, On the Wings of Love, Eternal Love. Other important works: The Other Side of the Ocean, The Glare of the Night, Waiting for Tonight, Skylight, From Dusk Till Dawn impress through the discrete glow of shades of cobalt blue or green. Another pictorial series capitalizes the geometric symbolism of the circle, the wheel of destiny, par excellence symbol of movement, transformation and cosmic infinity:Circle of Life, Across Time, Endless Moment, Fire and Water. The temperate modernism of the artist sometimes integrates figurative elements, especially portraits, exploring the mystery of feminine subjects: Desire, Ancestral Dream, Sensuality, Moon Dance, Fire and Ice, Flamenco Dancer.
Whether they express the essence of cosmic elements and metamorphoses, or suggest the intensity of a state of mind, the paintings of Eugenia Mangra conquer the viewer through the mirage of blazing colors and a deep inner dynamism, inherent to the approached techniques and themes.
Dr. Agata Chifor, art historian