Mircea Cantor
Thirst for Stillness

Opening – 26 APR 2024, 6-9 pm

Mircea Cantor’s first solo exhibition at Galeria Plan B presents a group of works that revolve around the central, eponymous installation, Thirst for Stillness (2024). Dominating the main space of the gallery, the large fountain serves as the focal point of the presentation, dealing with notions of tension and balance, which are symbolic for Cantor’s artistic practice of the last 20 years. Drawing inspiration from various forms and materials traditionally associated with fountain construction in different cultures, from Europe to the Middle East and Asia, it evokes a sense of disquiet: water cascades endlessly into the well, defying its intended purpose and perpetually failing to satiate its thirst. Echoing the ceaseless flow of water seeking fulfillment within the fountain, the artworks featured in the exhibition explore the longing for stillness as an inherent aspect of existence, reflecting on the human pursuit of equilibrium amidst the relentless tide of progress and conflict. Cantor’s oeuvre offers a poignant commentary on personal and global issues, advocating for a poetic resistance against life’s challenges.

In a fleeting moment captured in the video piece Vertical Attempt (2009), a young child is kneeling on a kitchen sink, attempting to cut the flow of water gushing from a tap with the use of scissors. Having a first encounter with the limitations of one’s agency in the world, it is not the completion of the task that holds significance, but the process. As the sequence endlessly repeats, the child’s endeavor transforms into a Sisyphean undertaking — bold and ambitious, yet ultimately futile.

Unlike the other works, in which water is in constant flow, the work My Hand is Your Fountain (2024), highlights the stillness of the element, underscoring the resolution found when personal imprint aligns harmoniously with the surrounding world.

At the upper gallery level, visitors encounter a series of large-scale drawings capturing the fractured form of a shattered water jug from various perspectives. Inspired by a trip to Marrakech, where the artist witnessed the breaking of the vessel as a tragic, opera-like event in the life of the man who carried it, Cantor almost archeologically analyses the fragments of the shattered jug. With their meticulous rendering of the shards, the drawings become a partiture of the object, a symphony, tracing the facets of their inherent drama. The point of breaking suggested in the drawings as a moment of irritation in the predicted course of the world is being reflected in the fragile balance of an installation with intertwined musical stands, reflecting the fruitful intersection of sounds and cultures.

The video Fire Doina (2022) announces its presence in the exhibition space through its subtle sound. The seducing song comes from a flute played by a solitary soldier in a forest, turning into a haunting sound, as the flute is engulfed in flames, in a scene of visual poetry. This evocative imagery juxtaposes moments of tranquility, with duty, emblematic of militarism. Contemplating on the tension between assignment and freedom, Cantor highlights his belief in the power of beauty to transcend the present, and of art as resistance.

Throughout the exhibition, Cantor’s works weave a narrative that invites viewers to reflect on the transient nature of existence, the pursuit of balance amidst chaos, and the enduring quest for stillness in a world in perpetual motion.