Dan Perjovschi

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Dan Perjovschi is a Romanian artist, cartoonist, and political activist. Perjovschi studied painting, yet his style later shifted towards a more minimalist drawing technique which incorporates humour in order to generate a critical perspective over contemporary political dynamics. In his early Anthroprogramme series, such as in the screen print on paper Anthopogramme V (1990), Perjovschi used the graphic technique of the grid to contain various human figures that slowly dissipate into tinier and tinier beings. The print may be symbolically read as a critique of socialist state surveillance, the dissolution of the individual in masses of categorised dossiers, and of the standardisation of the self. In the last decade, Perjovschi resumed the use of more traditional materials in his works, such as canvases, brushes and paper, developing a highly particular and performative practice of chalk drawing directly on the walls, ceilings, doors, and windows of museums and galleries. Perjovschi dematerialises and deconstructs his work to question the economic dynamics of the art market and the relationship between the artist and the art institution. The simplicity of form adopted by the artist gives him the power to express urgent political messages in an accessible format, seeking to speak about social inequality and the current policies that define our everyday lives. His works have been exhibited at the MOMA Museum in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the MOT Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the 48th and 52th Venice Biennale, and Manifesta 2 among others. Perjovschi won prizes such as the Princess Margriet Award of the European Cultural Foundation and the George Maciunas Prize. His works are part of the collections of the MOMA Museum, New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.