Projects 85: Dan Perjovschi

I witnessed history in the making yesterday.

No, I didn’t see something that made the front page or anything, I just watched an artist add the last bits to a piece of his work. On the other hand, this particular artist has made me think, laugh, and cry all at once, which is not an easy feat.

His name is Dan Perjovschi, and it is his first time exhibiting in America. His exhibition, Projects 85, is opening at the MoMA tomorrow (running through August 27th), and if you can get there to see it, do. Just do.

Unfortunately, I heard about it too late to share with you while he was creating the exhibition, which he has been doing during museum hours for the last 2 weeks. It’s a whole new aspect for him, usually his work is done while the gallery is closed to the public. Read an interview or watch the movie at moma.org to find out how he felt about working in front of an audience.

Standing high above the second-floor obelisk and the milling crowd in a lift with just enough room for him and an engineer, Perjovschi slashed away at the wall with a fat black marker. Each drawing took only a few minutes, which was lucky for me since I got there just before he finished! I got the sense he was literally just spewing ideas onto the (permanent) walls, coming up with each brilliant piece right on the spot. Pause, think, click, draw! Something about his technique seemed almost conversational, if that conversation was a passionate political and social debate between very intelligent and angry friends.

Now, I’m a big fan of political cartoons AND line drawing, but I have literally never seen anything quite like this. Provocative doesn’t begin to describe it. Whether you agree or disagree with his views, there is no way you could walk away without being affected.

Perjovschi is Romanian, born in 1961, and therefore a first-hand witness to some of the weirdest and harshest political and social changes in history. Now, he uses current events and issues local to wherever he is working at the time as his springboard for creativity. In New York, his “comments” (as I like to think of each drawing) range from our country’s place in world affairs to our gluttony for absurd fashion trends. The best part (to me at least) was that even as I recognized some of my own faults in the drawings, they made me laugh at myself in a positive way. Basically, he combines the best qualities of a great stand-up comic with a skilled hand. What could be more entertaining?

I could go on forever, but I think his work should speak for itself. Get yourself to New York before this exhibit ends and see this, it’s well worth it!!