Decebal Scriba
Presentation
Living in Fontainebleau-Avon since 1991, Decebal Scriba (b. 1944) is a romanian artist approaching media such as photography, installation, performance and video art, with sustained activity in the sphere of conceptual art, in which he also integrates his preoccupation with drawing.
He has exhibited in Romania starting with 1974, participating in notable group exhibitions: "Situatie si concept" [Situation and concept], Atelier 35, Bucharest (1974); "Fotografie si film experimental" [Photography and experimental film], House of Art, Bucharest (1979); "Scrierea" [Writing], Institute of Architecture, Bucharest (1980); "Spatiu-Obiect" [Space-Object], Institute of Architecture, Bucharest (1982); "Spatiul-Oglinda" [Space-Mirror], Institute of Architecture, Bucharest (1986); "Experiment în arta româneasca dupa 1960" [Experiment in Romanian art after 1960], National Theater, Bucharest (1996). During the communist regime, he participated in several projects abroad, between 1973 and 1988, which encouraged art by correspondence, or so-called 'mail-art', such as "Objeto de Interferencia", Sao Paulo (1985) or the ecological project "Messagio Terra", Milan (1983). Along with Nadina Scriba and with the participation of a group of friends, he initiated the document video project "House pARTy", editions I and II, between 1987 and 1988, in Bucharest.
After 1990 he participated in the exhibitions "When History Comes Knocking: Romanian Art from the 80s and 90s in Close Up", curated by Judit Angel, at the Plan B Gallery in Berlin (2011) and "The Poetics of Politics", curated by Olivia Nitis, Propaganda Gallery, Warsaw (2012). In 2015 he opens his first personal exhibition at the Victoria Art Center, Bucharest, followed by his second, in 2016, at the Calina Gallery in Timisoara, both curated by Olivia Nitis. He contributed to the exhibition "Situations and Concepts", curated by Magda Radu, organized in 2017 at the Project Salon in Bucharest and participated at the "Life - A User's Manual", Contemporary Art Biennale Art Encounters - Timisoara, 2017, curated by Ami Barak and Diana Marincu. His first solo show in France took place at the gallery in 2019.
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Formation
School of Plastic Arts, Bucharest, Romania
Academy of Fine Arts, Bucharest, Romania
ENSAD Paris, France
Solo shows (selection)
2024
Records from Beyond Vision, Jecza Gallery, Timisoara, Roumanie
2022
La résonance du signe, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
L'illusion est la première apparence de la vérité, curated by Ami Barak, Sorbonne Art Gallery, Paris, France
2019
Passages, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
2018
Memory Clouds, curator Ami Barak, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2017
Separating Systems, Calina Gallery, Romania
2015
In-Side/Out-Side, Victorian Art Center, Bucharest, Romania
Group shows (selection)
2024
Le ciel est joli comme un ange, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
Comme je me voudrais "être", curator Marc Donnadieu, Galerie Christian Berst - Art Brut, Paris, France
2023
Diasporique, Centrul de Interes, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2021
Figures, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
Crossing the Same Circumstances, Kommunale Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Kaléidoscope du réel, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
The Third Woman – Actionism, performance, and attitudes, curated by Ami Barak, Diana Marincu, Gia Tidorescu, Art Encounters Foundation, Timisoara, Romania
Les Partis pris d'Anne-Sarah Bénichou, curated by Henri Guette, Festival International du Livre et du Film d'art, Perpignan, France
2021 = 5, exhibition celebrating the 5th birthday of the gallery, Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, Paris, France
2020
Europe Wonderland, Cultural centre Garrison Command, Timisoara, Romania
2019
This Part That Seemingly Needs to Be Extruded Through a Place in My Body, Salonul de projecte, Universul Palace, Bucharest, Romania
The Infinite Convergence, Anca Poterasu gallery, Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
In the Eye of the Storm, curated by Christina Stoenescu, Anca Poterasu gallery, Bucharest, Romania
What ties us together, (with Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan), curated by Perrine Lacroix, La BF15, Lyon, France
La Brique, the Brick, Caramida, curated by Ami Barak, Kunsthalle, Contemporary Art Center, Mulhouse, France
Ex-east, histoires passées et récentes des avant-gardes roumaines, curator Ami Barak, Espace Niemeyer, Paris, France
2017
Art Encounters Timisoara Art Biennial: Life A User?s Manual, Timisoara, Romania
Situations and Concepts, Salonul de Proiecte, Bucharest, Romania
2015
house pARTy, tranzit.ro, Bucharest, Romania
2012
The Poetics of Politics, Propaganda Gallery, Warsow, Poland
2011
When History Comes Knocking: Romanian Art from the 80s and 90s in Close Up, Plan B Gallery, Berlin, Germany
1996
Experiment in Romanian Art Since 1960, National Theatre, Bucharest, Romania
1986
Spatiu-Oglind [Space-Mirror], The Institute of Architecture, Bucharest, Romania
1985
Objeto de Interferencia, [mail art], São Paulo, Brasil
1983
Messagio Terra, [mail art], Milano, Italy
1982
Spatiu-Obiect [Space-Object], The Institute of Architecture, Bucharest, Romania
1974
Situation and concept, Atelier35, Bucharest, Romania
Public collections (selection)
Centre National des arts plastiques (Cnap), Paris, France
The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
Selective bibliography
2024
Exhibition catalogue Comme je me voudrais être, curator – Marc Donnadieu, Galerie Christian Berst – Art Brut, Paris, France
2018
Mail Art Then and Now. A Brief Glance at the Network from Personal Experience, Decebal Scriba, ARTA issue 32/2018 special issue on Mail Art, pp. 32-37
Basements, attics, streets and courtyards : the reinvention of marginal art spaces in Romania during socialism, Cristian Nae in Performance Art in the Second Public Sphere, Event-based Art in Late
Socialist Europe, Edited by Katalin Cseh-Varga and Adam Czirak, Routledge
2017
Decebal Scriba, 70s - 80s Works, sous la direction d'Olivia Nitis, Edition Verlag Kettler
Art Encounters 2017, catalogue d'exposition Life a User's Manual, biennale de Timisoara
Art and Politics under Modern Dictatorships: A Comparison of Chile and Romania, Caterina Preda, Plagrave Macmillan
Performance art in Eastern Europe since 1960, Amy Bryzgel, Manchester University Press
2016
ARTA magazine, No. 20-21, par Cristian Nae, p.94
Arta în România între anii 1945-1988. O analiza din perspectiva Prezentului [Art in Romania between 1945-1988. A present times analysis], Coordinators: Calin Dan, Iosif Király, Anca Oroveanu, Magda Radu; Autori: Madalina Brasoveanu, Irina Carabas, Adriana Copaciu, Mirela Duculescu, Simona Dumitriu, Celia Ghyka, Bogdan Iacob, Cristian Nae, Olivia Nitis, Adriana Oprea, Veda Popovici, Magda Predescu, Magda Radu, Mara Ratiu, Irina Tulbure, Noua Europa Foundation, Bucharest/ Editura UNArte, Bucharest /The National Contemporary Art Museum, Bucarest
House pARTy 1987-1988, IDEA Design & Print, Colectia Expozitii
2014
Istorii marginale ale artei feministe, Olivia Nitis, Editura Vellant, Bucarest
2013
Gender and the Environment in Romanian Art Before and After 1990, Olivia Nitis, The Romanian Journal of Society and Politics, vol 8 nr.2, décembre
2012
Artistic Critiques of Modern Dictatorships, Caterina Preda, The European Legacy : Toward New Paradigms, vol. 17, Issue 7
2011
Repere ale artei experimentale românesti în galeriile berlineze [Landmarks of Experimental Romanian Art in Berlin Galleries], Mihaela Chiriac, Observator Cultural, Bucarest
2009
Prezentare generala a evolutiei fotografiei în România [General Presentation of Evolution of Photography in Romania], Mihai Oroveanu
2007
Art et pouvoir en Roumanie, Magda Cârneci, L'Harmattan, Paris
2005
Negotiating artistic identity through satire: Subreal 89-99, Anca Izabel Galliera, University of South Florida
2004
Romanian Way in Visual Arts Between 60 and 90, Ovidiu Muraru, Alina Muraru, Dorel Gaina, www.gallery4allarts.com
Arta (cultura) alternativa (II) [Alternative Art (Culture) II], Adrian Guta, Observator Cultural, Bucarest
2003
Photography, A proposed Chronology of an Experimental Epoch. i_CAN, Ruxandra Balaci, International Contemporary Art Network
The Aesthetics of Poverty. i_CAN, Calin Dan, International Contemporary Art Network
Experimentalism in Romanian Art after 1960. i_CAN, Alexandra Titu, International Contemporary Art Network
2002
Actionism in Romania During the Comunist Era, Ileana Pintilie, Idea, Cluj
1997
Experiment in Romanian Art since 1960, exhibition catalogue, CSAC, Bucarest