Gili Mocanu was born in Constanţa in 1971. He graduated from the Universitatea Națională de Arte București in 1999 and obtained his master’s degree in 2000 with the exhibition Gili died. Although celebrated for his work as a fine artist, Mocanu is simultaneously a respected poet and electronic musician (under the moniker Somnoroase Păsărele). All these activities feed into each other.
Without succumbing to the temptation of rigid stylistic borders or imitation, Mocanu evokes the grand leaps of the 20th century by modifying them. He chooses to limit his colour palette to allow for contrasts. But these oppositions are more of feeling than of tones, with warmth and cold shining through more than any singe colour. These sensations exist within the confines of geometrical compositions that have escaped the modernist grid but not its angles. Nevertheless, these angular lines offer depth where flatness had long reigned supreme, allowing for some reflexive pondering.
The sought-after effect is one of universal experiences. Perhaps this is why so many of Mocanu’s works of art capture a bittersweet feeling that is very representative of daily life. The macabre is depicted using light colours while levity is depicted using dark colours. Mocanu finds a balance in his practice to which all viewers can relate.
His status as an important Romanian contemporary artist has been acknowledged through various awards: he won the Margareta Sterian prize (National Museum of Art of Romania) in 2004; was nominated for the international final of the Henkel CEE Prize for Art in Vienna in 2005; and won first prize at Rehau ARTCampus Romania in 2007.
As a poet, Mocanu has published various volumes including Sport (2005) and Lih (2009).
Recent solo exhibitions include: JDS-GM, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2014); The double, Galeria das Salgadeiras, Lisbon, Portugal (2013); Blindness, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2012); Gili a murit #3, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2011); Each of those two moments, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania (2010); Lih, Point Contemporary Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2009); an exhibition at GM Fabrica, Bucharest, Romania (2008); CO, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania (2007); CUIB, The Fish Gallery, Constanţa, Romania (2007); Mit technik, H’art Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2006); Operating parameters, Muzeul de Artă Constanţa, Constanţa, Romania (2006).
Mocanu lives and works in Bucharest.
