Ștefan Curelici, born in Lugoj in 1997, lives and works in Timișoara.

Curelici is a Romanian visual artist whose academic background combines advanced degrees in Painting and Philosophy. His education also includes a formative period at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, completed through an Erasmus scholarship. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the Doctoral School of Arts in Timișoara. Specializing in figurative painting, Curelici employs a distinctive color palette and layered compositions to reflect on the tumultuous dynamics of contemporary urban life and their psychological and social implications.

Curelici's active engagement in the art scene has led to multiple exhibitions both locally and internationally.

In 2024, he presented his work in Catalyst of Beginnings, Bucharest; A Corpoliteracy Approach to the Ruin, Casa Matei Gallery, Cluj, 2024; A Corpoliteracy Approach to the Ruin II, Aparte Gallery, Iași, 2024; and Urban Fragments, Pasmatex, Timișoara, 2024. These followed earlier milestones such as his exhibition at the European Parliament, Brussels, 2022, and his participation in the VIA CARPATIA Biennale, Poland, 2023, positioning him as a notable emerging voice within the contemporary art landscape of Eastern Europe.

« My work emerges from everyday interactions with social space. Although we constantly engage with our surroundings, the routines of daily life often cause us to overlook essential aspects of this interaction. The perspective I propose on the contemporary landscape, however, is one of detachment—an outsider’s gaze, akin to that of the flâneur, the wandering observer drifting through urban space.
Through a deliberately altered color palette evocative of digital media, the layering of diverse elements, and intricate compositions, I seek to reflect the chaotic, fragmented nature of contemporary urban life. My work explores the shifting dynamics between the individual and society, prompting a dual reflection—both on the social space we navigate and on the self within it.
A key technique in my paintings is linear perspective, which creates an optical illusion that lends the works a cinematic quality, drawing the viewer into the pictorial space. This approach allows me to evoke the complex and often overwhelming emotional responses triggered by the urban environment.
A recurring motif in my work is the ruin, used as a metaphor for introspection, impermanence, and the fractured nature of contemporary existence. Ruins serve as a powerful symbol, carrying layered and sometimes contradictory meanings—both a reminder of decay and a site of transformation. I see them as an ever-relevant theme in contemporary art, inviting multiple interpretations that oscillate between nostalgia and renewal, fragility and resilience. »

Stefan Curelici