Vida Gheza

Additional info:

Vida Gheza holds a singular position within twentieth century Romanian sculpture through a practice that combines modern academic formation with a sustained engagement in vernacular and mythological structures. His artistic education was shaped in Baia Mare under the guidance of Alexandru Ziffer and later consolidated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, experiences marked by political instability and periods of constraint that left a lasting imprint on his work. These formative contexts informed a sculptural language defined by formal sobriety, expressive concentration and a strong emphasis on material presence. His oeuvre developed along two interconnected directions. One addresses social and historical realities through representations of miners, forestry workers and rural communities, as well as through public monuments conceived within the ideological framework of the post war period. The other draws on archaic folklore and mythological imaginaries from Maramureș, articulated through symbolic figures and collective memory rather than narrative illustration. Wood remained his primary medium, valued for its structural force and cultural associations, though stone and bronze were employed in major commissions. Vida exhibited widely in Romania and abroad, including participations at the Venice Biennale, and received significant institutional recognition through state awards, leadership roles within the Union of Plastic Artists and election as a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. His work continues to occupy a stable position within museum collections and the secondary art market, where it is regarded for its synthesis of modern form and local cultural continuity.