About Grapes
In About Grapes, Maria Pop offers a subtle, ironic reinterpretation of the classic fable of the fox and the grapes, transforming it into a contemporary sculptural language. The character — a fox adorned with coquettish curlers — becomes a metaphor for superficiality, self-delusion, and the reluctance to push beyond one's comfort zone.
Crafted from modest materials — AAC brick, cement, and pigments — the sculpture deliberately emphasizes fragility and the precariousness of such an attitude. It's seemingly naive forms and vivid color palette evoke the aesthetics of Art Brut and material-based Expressionism, underlining a raw sincerity in representation.
On a conceptual level, the work resonates with contemporary theories about the narrative dimension of objects (as discussed by Boris Groys) and Guy Debord’s critique of the society of the spectacle. In Maria Pop’s vision, the sculptural object does not merely illustrate a moral tale but expands into a broader reflection on narcissism, self-justification, and the human difficulty in embracing failure as part of personal growth.
Through About Grapes, the artist constructs a visual parable about the traps of desire and the transformation of self-deception into a mechanism of everyday survival.
Maria Pop
Maria Pop Timaru lives and works in Bucharest. Her artistic practice includes sculpture, drawing, installation, ceramic objects, and performance, all strongly connected to the everyday aspects of her life, which she narrates with irony and humor. She studied Sculpture at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, where she also earned her PhD.