10 years of Romanian comics


back in February  2013 finished this comics for comiXconnection - a free-floating platform that gathers works from a hefty number of cartoonists from around Eastern Europe. A gargantuan list of Romanian cartoonists & comic publishers present in the upper comics here follows (in random memory order):
Sefeu, Maria Surducan, Ileana Surducan, Puiu Manu, The Book of George, Cup of ComicsTamba, Jumatatea Plina, Hardcomics, Aooleu, Harap Alb continua, Revista Comics, Dan Perjovschi, Roman Tolici, Matei Branea, Ciubi, Fredo&Pid'gin, Otaku, Livia Rusz, Sandu Florea, Dodo Niță, Istoria Benzii Desenate, Muzeul Benzii Desenate, KF Arad, Neuro, Linda, Glorioasa Fanzina.  Here are some shots from the exhibition that's currently being hosted by the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest.

one run down Romanian village is the playground for brute force and "democratic" war fare. Para military are going about
the village giving out fines to villagers, beating up old nannies, to protect Chevron's corporate interests. A prime example
of how our fair government is violating human rights to boost their financial accounts for Christmas.
Thank you Chevron, it's as always a rape doing business with you!


Illustration for a text by Radu Paraschivescu, out in the December issue of Esquire Romania.

Meanwhile, mayhem rumbles in bowels as policemen turn into hill billies. They're running around beating up
locals in a small Romanian village, to peacefully make way for Chevron's intoxicating colonization. A fusion of Communist mentality and capitalist hardware, pumped by delirious doses of stupidity, equals our absurd national tragedy. More details about the history of events  here  and a recent article in the Guardian


Urmuz,Victor Brauner,Gherasim Luca,Dolfi Trost,Paul Păun,Gellu Naum and Paul Celan were spotted inhabiting one rectangle, some micron bitcoins ago.

limited edition silksreen prints, pișcoturi, comics and jiggling juices.
this Saturday, 16th of Brumaire, 18:00 over here


days drag on

prinde orbu' scoate-i ochii!

Short story long, in case it all looks too tangled up in images:
I live in a country much like any other 2nd world country. On the fringes of the 1st world, drilled by corporate interests
and dismantled by political corruption. Romania's currently facing a heavy load of ecological dangers and social dis-
array. Mining projects threaten our natural environment, stray dogs are going to be euthanized on the conveyor belt,
while we watch televised translations and debates about the elephant in the living room. Ignorance used to be bliss.

Gabriel Resources is an international gold corporation that's been pushing for 13 years to grab Romanian resources
through a mining project in the Carpathian mountains. The government's recently drafted a special law, tailored to fit
the corporate demands. The outcome of their agreement will be a natural disaster, consisting of a crater visible form
outer space and a cyanide dumping ground of unimaginable proportions. Romania stands to gain 6% of all the exploits
(which include the largest golden deposit in the E.U. and vast quantities of rare metals such as Gallium estimated at 4
times the value of gold).

But our national crisis isn't just about corporate crap. The area that Gabriel Resources is aiming at is one unique histo-
rical heritage. The Rosia Montana area has been exploited through mining for at least a thousand years. Romans invaded
the country, back in the hay day, expressly for the gold in this area. The Roman triumph is the theme of  Trajan's Column
in Rome. There are mine networks stretching out underground the entire region, some even older than the Roman ones.
This  soon to be crater, is a significant slice of history.

Politicians are struggling to sell what's left of the country, with former Communist party members still pulling the admini-
strative strings. The Gabriel Corporation Crisis is a final drop in a cup all too full. The Danube Delta's soon to be sold, parts
of the Black Sea coast are already property of Chevron and if turmoil continues there'll be a wave of exodus.

At the end of the day, all the corporate craters and political decay will be left to the ordinary "low-life" citizen to clean up.
Unfortunately we're all too comfortable sweeping reality under the rug.

Our government assures us that our future is in good hands with Gabriel Resources.Here's a cinematographic insight, detail-
ing both camps' opinions on the project. Also,
a great article (in Romanian) with a ton of sollutions to Romania's golden
crisis. The article is  written by a Romanian employee of the World Bank in Washington, a strong opponent of the
mining scheme.

Sleep tight dear Romanians!





The Romanian government recently approved a law granting Rosia Montana Gold Corp. the right to start exploiting gold in the Carpathian mountains. The law was deemed of national importance, even though the contents of the contract between the Romanian state and the Corporation have not been disclosed to the public. This project will be the largest and most dangerous of its kind in Europe and the state will only obtain 6% of the gold exploits, while the above mentioned corporation will also uncover galium and silver, amongst other national resources. So far most of the country's dreaming about hell-knows-what-kind-of-a-pink-peachy-future as the Corporation has monopole on all television channels in Romania (as they've bought them over and played their tear-jerking commercials during prime-time). Here is a clearer outlook on the situation, in English & here's the Romanian translation from a Romanian member of the European Parlament

doodles and typo tribulations for this future EVENT's poster


Origami Sound invited me to do a cover for Hostage's release on their label. The graphical approach was the Scotsman's
idea. He would have preferred a woodcut, but since I was lacking the required amount of cojones involved in the carving
procedure we agreed that a linocut would do. ¡Gracias
Grigore for the technical support & Calamansi for
intermediating! 

Teleleu

 Been calling up a variety of créateurs and creatures to show-case their sketchbooks for Vice magazine RomaniaWhat
was supposed to be a weekly dose of my dreary works, later oozed into this  egregious collection of notable specimina
from the local illustration/comics/visual arts fauna.

Added a new  sketchbook on the site. Temporarily dangling in a placid state, made a few doodles and wrapped up deadlines,
while waiting for a prolonged break

while we wait #3














22 by 22 centimeters of comics and illustration panels the length of 36 pages. The hardcover is silkscreen printed  in 2 colors, one of which is embossed. Contains 5 types of paper, was printed at Fabrik in Bucharest and on the home printer. While we wait#3 was launched during the White Night of Galleries in Bucharest and is handsewn, available in a limited edition of 100 copies. The exhibition's still open till Wednesday the 5th of June, more info here. Available next week at Libraria Jumatatea Plina and Anthony Frost English Bookshop.

while we whistle


working on While we wait #3, hectic as usual. if you want to check the mutant results of this experiment tune in for the launch during Noaptea Galeriilor here! Undeva pe Strada Amzei la nr. 5, lângă pizzeria dinspre Calea Victoriei.  

silkscreen screaming


Part of last month's silkscreen-printing crop. All barbaric acts of sewing, ironing and ink spilling were done in the claustrophobic comfort of home.

check the czechs

This Saturday, in Temišvar, some typographic weight lifting and graphic-steroid pumping at  Typopassage

much ado about nothing. working's left me with crumbs of time. decided to feed them to the birds.

parole parole parole

♥♥♥ folded pornographic melodrama for Jumatatea Plina Bookstore's Valentine special ♠♠♠

"...reproductions are still used to bolster the illusion that nothing has changed, that art, with its unique undiminished
authority, justifies most other forms of authority, that art makes inequality seem noble and hierarchies seem thrilling."
taken from Ways of seeing by John Berger

Au!


"seeing seems to be a rather calculating business"

CLICK image to enlarge, perspectives induced by repeated blows to the head using Marshall McLuhan's War and Peace in the global village