Johnny's Ashtray
Johnny's Ashtray reinterprets traditional animal-decorated ceramic or metal ashtrays, elevating the mundane into a symbolic statement. The eagle, a timeless emblem of power, perches over a basin filled with coal, evoking themes of consumption, transformation, and decay. Crafted from poly, resin, EPS foam, and coal, the sculpture subverts expectations by using lightweight materials to depict a form associated with strength and permanence. Its bold presence and raw textures challenge notions of authority and fragility, blending nostalgia with contemporary critique.
Vlad Olariu
Born in 1983, Vlad Olariu graduated in Art and Design in Cluj. He is one of the most active and beloved Romanian sculptors of the last decade. He doesn't shy away from tackling difficult themes, he does it with naturalness and humour. Concerned with time, history, cultural identities, Vlad Olariu has had exhibitions in Cluj, Bucharest and Timisoara - "Memory of Memory", "Falling out of Time", "The Stubborn Object and the Idiot Cousin". His works have also been seen in Copenhagen and Berlin. Vlad Olariu is passionate about the multitude of angles from which reality can be viewed. Or an art object can be viewed.