Valeriu Mladin was born in Lipova/Lippa in 1958. After attending the local high school of fine arts (1974–1978), where he studied under the co-founders of the Sigma Group (1978–1982), he enrolled at the Institutul de Arte Plastice ‘Ion Andreescu’ (the Ion Andreescu Institute of Fine Arts). In 1994, he was appointed lecturer at the Universitatea Națională de Arte București. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of Photo-Video and Computer Image Processing at the Universitatea Națională de Arte București and has a PhD in visual arts from the same institution.
Mladin is versed in various artistic genres – drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, video, objects, installation and performance – and has adopted the portrait as his main genre, one he subverts with a post-modernist approach involving a plethora of cultural subtexts that are undoubtedly geared towards the media-conscious eye. A few of his notable paintings in this area are: Baia, oil on canvas, dimensions 300 x 170 cm, Galeria Helios, Timișoara/Temesvár, Romania (1991); Poliția E cu Noi, 45 minutes, Galeria Helios, Timișoara/Temesvár, Romania (performance, 1992); Cine A Tras în Noi ?, 15 minutes, National Museum of Art Timișoara, Timișoara/Temesvár, Romania (performance, 1992); Este prea mult, National Museum of Art Timișoara, Timișoara/Temesvár, Romania (installation, 1991); and Fast Food, Bucharest, Romania (video installation, 1995).
Mladin represented Romania at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2004, he received the
Ordinul Coroanei României (Order of the Crown of Romania) and the Ordinul Meritul Cultural in the Rank of Knight.
His personal exhibitions throughout the years have included: Political Bestiary, Brâncovenești/Marosvécs palaces cultural center in Mogoșoaia, Romania and Casa Artelor Gallery (2013); 44”, Cărturești Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2010); Pas de Deux, Allianz-Țiriac Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2006); Cuib, S. P. A. C. E. Gallery, International Center for Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania (2002); mladinvocale 1, Galeria Simeza, Bucharest, Romania (2002); Ispita, Gold Art Gallery, Sala Regina Maria, Bucharest, Romania (2000); Zece Ani După, National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest, Romania (1999); exhibition at the Blue Gallery, Institut Français, Bucharest, Romania (1996); exhibition at Galerie 134, Český Krumlov, Czechia (1994); exhibition at Galerie 134, Český Krumlov, Czechia (1993); exhibition at Galerie Im Flur, Frankfurt, Germany (1990); exhibition at Galeria Pro Arte, Lugoj/Lugos, Romania (1989).
Mladin lives and works in Bucharest.
