Geta Bratescu: Mrs. Oliver (courtesy the artist)

Visual artist Geta Brătescu, 90, will represent Romania at the 2017 Venice Art Biennale, after the project Geta Brătescu-Apariţii (Geta Brătescu -Apparitions) won the highest score in the second selection phase organized by the Culture Ministry.

After a career of over 50 years, Brătescu is regarded as one of the most important contemporary Romanian artists, also visible internationally. She has been working in multiple mediums, from textiles and sculpture to film, photography and drawing. Her work can be found in the collections of museums such as the New York MoMA, the London Tate, or the Vienna Modern Art Museum.  Brătescu has participated in the biennale twice—in 1960, as part of a group exhibition, and again in 2013 at the Central Pavilion, alongside fellow Romanian artists Ștefan Bertalan and Andra Ursuta.

The team of the winning project includes Geta Brătescu, curator Magda Radu, Corina Bucea, Diana Ursan, Raymond Bobar, Dan Burzo, Frederic Eyl, Steffen Oestreich, and Marian Manten.  The committee responsible for selecting Brătescu’s project included, amongst others, the architect and previous Romanian pavilion commissioner, Atilla Kim; Călin Dan, the general director of MNAC; and Anca Drăgoi, Romania’s state secretary in the Ministry of Culture and National Identity.

The Venice Art Biennale (Biennale Arte) takes place this year between May 13th and November 26th, 2017 under the headline Viva Arte Viva, and is curated by Christine Macel.

Last year Romania was represented by the painter Adrian Ghenie, a representative of the Cluj School, one of the most appreciated young artists in the world.  Ghenie’s 2016 Venice Biennale project, titled Darwin’s Room, gathered 19 works dating from 2008-2015, exhibited to critical acclaim from The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Art Newspaper, Apollo magazine, Artsy. “By far the best pavilion at the Venice Biennale is the Romanian’s Adrian Ghenie,” wrote Les Echoes.

More about 2017 Biennale here.