" ÎNAINTE", Mircea Cantor

ÎNAINTE Mircea Cantor

Mircea Cantor (born in 1977) is a major figure in Romanian contemporary art. Trained at the University of Arts and Aesthetics of Cluj-Napoca, followed by a diploma at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, he was awarded the prestigious Marcel Duchamp prize in 2011. In his practice as a sculptor, a videographer, or a drawer, Cantor addresses many different themes. A recurring theme is a critique of our globalising society, which leads to a standardisation of lifestyles and way of thinking. The artist takes from his native culture archetypes, that he then de-contextualises by bringing them into the contemporary art world. By creating a “collage” of sorts with these pieces, his work is reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp’s favoured “Ready Made” technique.