Marius Bercea

Overview
Born in 1979 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Marius Bercea received both his B.A. in 2003 and M.A. in 2005 at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Marius Bercea is widely recognized as one of the leading figures of the Cluj School of Painting—a loosely affiliated group of artists who emerged in Cluj-Napoca after the 1989 Romanian Revolution. Known for his vividly layered, psychologically charged works, Bercea blends personal memory, cultural history, and imagined geographies into a visual language that is both intimate and expansive.

 

Over the past two decades, Bercea’s paintings have explored the social and emotional landscapes shaped by consumerism, capitalism, and migration. His richly textured compositions oscillate between realism and fiction, glamour and decay, utopia and collapse. At the core of his practice lies a fascination with the thresholds—where past and present, East and West, private and collective experience intersect.

 

Often described as “Transylfornian,” Bercea’s visual universe fuses the terrains of his native Transylvania with those of California’s West Coast. This hybrid space—equal parts archive and dreamscape—forms the backdrop for scenes populated by elusive figures, opulent interiors, and architectural remnants. The result is a body of work that meditates on transformation and dislocation, while remaining deeply rooted in autobiography.

Recent solo exhibitions include This Side of Paradise, Art Encounters Foundation (Timișoara, 2024); Echo of a Breaking String, Lyles & King (New York, 2024); Blue Silk, François Ghebaly (New York, 2022); and The Far Sound of Cities, MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2021). His works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the ARKEN Museum of Modern Art (Denmark), the Taubman Museum of Art (USA), the Kistefos Museum (Norway), the Zabludowicz Collection (UK), and the Olbricht Collection (Germany).

Works
  • Marius Bercea, New Tenant, Sunshine Noir, 2025
    New Tenant, Sunshine Noir, 2025
  • Marius Bercea, New Tenant, Sunshine Noir exhibition poster, 2025
    New Tenant, Sunshine Noir exhibition poster, 2025
  • Marius Bercea, Personified Tonic Monday, 2025
    Personified Tonic Monday, 2025
  • Marius Bercea, “As I walked out one Evening” after a poem of W. H. Auden, 2025
    “As I walked out one Evening” after a poem of W. H. Auden, 2025
  • Marius Bercea, Grand Beach Hotel, 2024
    Grand Beach Hotel, 2024
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2024
    Untitled, 2024
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2024
    Untitled, 2024
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled (Bertoia and Poussin), 2024
    Untitled (Bertoia and Poussin), 2024
  • Marius Bercea, Study for Troubadours of Uncertain Future, 2023
    Study for Troubadours of Uncertain Future, 2023
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2023
    Untitled, 2023
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2023
    Untitled, 2023
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled (Shining Spotlight Stories; Sun Tang Mustang, Riviera of Restless Shininh), 2023
    Untitled (Shining Spotlight Stories; Sun Tang Mustang, Riviera of Restless Shininh), 2023
  • Marius Bercea, Yucca, 2022-2025
    Yucca, 2022-2025
  • Marius Bercea, Aleea Azuga, 2019-2022
    Aleea Azuga, 2019-2022
  • Marius Bercea, Pack up the Modern Sun , 2019
    Pack up the Modern Sun , 2019
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2017
    Untitled, 2017
  • Marius Bercea, Untitled
    Untitled
Press