There were times I wanted to change the world: a collaborative effort initiated by Jecza Gallery, joined by /SAC, Mobius, Sector 1, Suprainfinit, Himera and Lutnita | at Paltim Timișoara

Artists / Artiști: Andreea Anghel, Robert Andacs, Apparatus 22, Marius Bercea, Anca Brânzaș, Michele Bressan, Diana Cepleanu, Alina Cioară, Mihaela Coandă, Suzana Dan, Norbert Filep, Andrei Gamarț, Ana Ionescu, Jesse Kase, Daria Koltsova, Tincuța Marin, Andrei Nuțu, Radu Oreian, Dan Palade, Lucian Popăilă, Marius Rițiu, Salt Salome, Ioana Tocoaie, Roman Tolici.

Curated by Diana Marincu

Part of the collateral program of Art Encounters Biennial 2025

Exhibition dates: 31 May - 13 July 2025

The exhibition "There were times I wanted to change the world" starts from a curatorial research into the concept of the monstrous, the mirror as a metaphor for painting, and the idea of ​​the simulacrum, found today in the different types of constructions, deconstructions, and reconstructions of the visual representation. As part of a collaborative effort initiated by Jecza Gallery, the exhibition brings together artists represented by the galleries Jecza, /SAC, Mobius, Sector 1, Suprainfinit, Himera and Lutnita.

"The idea of ​​the monstrous as an expression of human-nonhuman hybridity spans the entire history of knowledge, from pre-Platonic philosophy and Hellenistic systems of understanding nature, or more precisely human nature, to current non-normative theories of radical alterity. 

The deconstruction of the real, functioning as an artist's strategy to transform a perception or a fantasy into images, is a way of reaching the monstrous - that combination of incompatible elements. 

One of the authors who dealt with the history of the monstrous from the ontological-political point of view, Filippo Del Lucchese, writes that one of the constant questions throughout the centuries of philosophical reflection is: does the order of the world emerge from chaos thus ending it, or is chaos the monstrous destiny of any so-called order? This question can guide us in the exhibition course proposed here, and the relationship between a search for compatibility with incompatible elements that get under our skin and transform us takes multiple incarnations, under the effect that the "body" of painting/art bears on us." (Diana Marincu)

We warmly thank Paltim for generously offering the exhibition space.