The Distance Itself is C-Space’s third collaboration with Romanian artist Cătălin Petrișor, which is also the artist’s second solo show in the gallery.

Cătălin Petrişor’s better known works would be the oil paintings with schematic drawings on top, dissecting the surfaces, presenting a cut-and-paste state of mind that is driven by the need to overcome the gap between different realities, both factual and imaginary.This distance has been the main subject in his works and more recently emphasis is put on a distinct self-awareness within this feature. This series performs a reflexivity moving back and forth between the space and the explorer where two circular relationships are implied – firstly, one that is between the image and the artist, and secondly, one that is between the work of art and the viewer.

The distance consumes the walker, while he is the decider of its length. The decision making process regarding the exact point where the journey should end is of great artistic significance within this body of work. Furthermore, this also contributes to the focus of Petrişor’s practice where painting acts as an image generator rather than simply as a method of image reproduction, mimicking specific realities. The spectator is thus confronted not with a finite product, but with an element from a system that he or she would want to reestablish in a personal way, or ideally, in which they would take roles as components. This act of perception, creative in its own right, would then be completed by the second viewer who looks upon the first one gazing at the painting.

Cătălin Petrişor (b. 1978) obtained a MFA from the University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca in Romania in 2004. In 2012, he exhibited an installation of paintings and wallpaper cutouts entitled "Geometry of Human Nature" at Galerie Dix9 in Paris and he took part in "A Conscious Choice for Temporary Blindness" - a duo-show with Ana Maria Micu at Mind Set Art Center in Taipei.

Courtesy of C-Space