Artist Statement
As an artist I find inspiration in details of nature, architecture, jazz or contemporary classical music.
For the past few years I have explored the marks left by time on our physical organic or inorganic world in series such as “Everybody Has the Right to Wear a Mask”, “Common Tones in Simple Time” or “Fearful Symmetries”. I find visually very appealing the textures and the colors of forms and surfaces which react differently to the actions of time. Not only that I like to render some of these textures and their intimate structures but I also like to explore the contrasts between different textures in my paintings such as that of oil painting and Stonehenge paper background.
I also hold a particular interest in the follies of human stories such as the myth of El Dorado and for this reason I developed a body of work based not only on the myth itself but also on the music with the same title by the contemporary composer John Adams. To me El Dorado represents a symbol of perfection which is an eluding concept that throws us to the limits of rationality and logic. On the other hand it is irresistible not to admire this human endeavor in finding or creating the perfect, celestial city as a race against time and oblivion.
In December of 2016, I went back home to Bucharest to see my mother who was very sick. I haven't been to Bucharest in the winter in a very long time. I was very sad and I was walking on the streets trying to cope with the very bad news. In that cold winter light, the old ruined buildings seemed to resemble large, putrefying wounds and I realized that I was the witness of centuries of history that were effaced at a fast pace leaving behind a city without the past. The series of watercolors "Bucharest" is an homage to a city which in its transformation loses its personality and its history, a city that I hold very dearly in my heart.
Bio
Bogdan Dumitrica received his Master of Fine Arts from California State University, Los Angeles. He is the recipient of Art Matters Foundation Grant in 1995 and awards such as First Prize the Second City Council Long Beach 2001, Honorable Mention, 1st Biennial of Ceramic, Ichon, Korea, 2001, Ink & Clay 25 Purchase Award, Cal Poly Pomona, 1999, and First Annual Riviera Fine Arts Center Competition, 1994. Dumitrica's works were included in the 1st World Ceramic Biennial 2001 Korea, Ichon, Korea, The Fifth International Biennial of Ceramics, Cairo, Egypt, in solo shows as well as group shows in galleries within United States and Europe. His works were reviewed in the Los Angeles Times Valley edition.
Currently he lives and works in Los Angeles.
Education 2000 M.F.A., Cal. State. Univ. Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Shows
2009 “Nourriture”, La Bezuga Gallery, Florence, Italy
2008 “Cabezas”, DCA Fine Arts, Santa Monica, CA
2002 “Identities”, Remba Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2001 LA Art Core, Los Angeles, CA
1994 Mythos Gallery, Burbank, CA
1991 Municipal Gallery of Bucharest, Romania
l990 Municipal Gallery of Bucharest, Romania
Two Artist Show
2017 "One Up, One Down", LA Artcore GAllery, Los Angeles, CA
Group Shows
2021. Group show, 49th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Art Center, Glendale, CA
2015 Group show, “Bunnymania”, Craig Waidlin Gallery, CA
2013 Group show, L2Kontemporary Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Group Show, “Better Red than Dead, XVY Art and Design Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Group Show, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2008 Group Show, The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Group Show, “Great American Nude”, Harry Levine Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2006 Group Show, Bamboo Lane Gallery, Los Angeles, CA2003 Group show, DCA Fine Arts Gallery, Venice, CA
2003 “Redux”, juried show, Luckman Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002 “Manifestations II: Form and Function”, juried show, Denise Bibro Gallery, Chelsea, New York
2002 Gray McGear Modern Gallery, Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA
2001 Gallery Onetwenty-eight, New York
26th Annual Open Art Show. Juried show, Roseville Art Center, Roseville, CA
“Urban, Suburban”, juried show, Second City Council, Long Beach, CA
1st World Ceramic Biennial 2001 Korea, Ichon, Korea
Long Beach Museum of Art, Art Auction IX, CA
Remba Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2000 Remba Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
“Immigrant Eye”, juried show, Angels Gate Gallery, San Pedro, CA
“Common Ground”, juried show, LA Art Core, Los Angeles, CA
The Fifth International Biennial of Ceramics, Cairo, Egypt
“Small Scale Religious Sculpture”, juried show, Catholic University of America, Washington,D.C.
1999 CSULA Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Angels Gate Gallery, San Pedro, CA
Remba Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
Juried show, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Ink and Clay”, juried show Kellogg Gallery, Cal Poly University, Pomona, CA
1998 Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
Studio Open: Venice Art Walk, Venice, CA
1997 Juried show, Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1996 Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1996 Juried show, Gallery 825, W. Hollywood, CA
Studio Open: Venice Art Walk, Venice, CA
1995 Juried show, Mythos Gallery, Burbank, CA
Juried show, Mills Pond Art Gallery, St. James NY
Juried Art Show: Gallery 825, W. Hollywood, CA
Desmond Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Studio Open: Venice Art Walk, Venice, CA
Mythos Gallery, Burbank, CA
1994 Juried Art Show: Center For Visual Arts, Oakland, CA
Rachele Lozzi Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Palazzetti Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Group Exhibition: Mythos Gallery, Burbank, CA
Parnas Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Gallery 825, W. Hollywood, CA
Juried Art Show, Gallery825, W. Hollywood, CA
Juried Art Show, Riviera Fine Arts Center, Santa Barbara, CA
1993 Juried Art Show, LA Art Association, W. Hollywood, CA
Juried Art Show: United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, CA
1992 Gallery of Fine Arts, CSUN, Northridge, CA
1991 Juried Art Show: Dalles Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
1990 Galerie International, Heidelberg, Germany
Dalles Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
Kleine Galerie, Augsburg, Germany
Awards The Associates Award, 49th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Art Center, Glendale, CA, 2021
First Prize, The Second City Council, Long Beach, 2001
Honorable Mention, 1st Biennial of Ceramic, Ichon, Korea, 2001
Ink & Clay 25 Purchase Award, Cal Poly Pomona, 1999
Art Matters, 1995 Foundation Grant
First Annual Riviera Fine Arts Center Competition, 1994
Works In Private Collections
Expo Ceramic Museum, Ichon, Korea
Kellog Gallery, Pomona, CA
Jo Lauria, Glendale, CA
Lois Boardman, Pasadena, CA
Charles Steinman, Newport Beach, CA
Chris Griffith, Peekskill, NY
Maurice Keizer, Miami, FL
Pet Holman, Curacao
Femke and Esther Van Wijngarden, Amsterdam, Holland
Gwen Andersen, Amsterdam, Holland
Paola Matossi L’Orsa, Torino, Italy
Klaus Rehms, Hamburg, Germany
Sylvan Samain, Paris, France
Susan Savage, Los Angeles, CA