Radu Bodiu, better known as Petre Inspirescu, a guru of experimentation and musical diversity, is an artist who does not step back from challenging sound exploration. Sliding gracefully with his creations through varied genres such as minimal, techno, ambient, or even experimental classical music, he took part in an unmatched collaboration, being the music provider of Peter Jecza’s “King Bronze” sculpture exhibition at Jecza Gallery. For the event, Petre Inspirescu created 5 dedicated vinyl-only tracks that will be released later this year, being inspired by Peter Jecza’s sculptures at the suggestion of his son Andrei, the gallery’s founder and art director.
As we had the honor to be hosted by Andrei Jecza and we delved into the audiovisual experience they worked on together, we wanted to dig even deeper so that now we can all discover the details of the work behind this art affair, how music blends with sculpture, and the creation of a sound experience of a kind, as seen through the eyes of the artist himself.
From the moment we arrived at the outstanding contemporary gallery in Timișoara, the only of its kind in Romania, a place built out of love and dedication to arts by the Jecza family as an extension of their own home in a modern and minimalistic architectural style, Andrei welcomed us at the entrance door and started touring us throughout the exhibition.
The exhibition consisted of 4 elements: the first part was a timeline explaining internationally renowned sculptor Peter Jecza’s (b. 1939 – d. 2009) evolution from a classical school of sculpture to an essentialization of form, the second part included a selection of 15 works that were the most appreciated and exhibited works of his career, a career that sums up 1200 unique sculptures, and the third element contained a series of drawings, including a bit of the artist’s “interior kitchen”, from the unseen area of the workshop – concept sketches showing the way a structure comes to life from an idea that starts as a drawing.
“For the 4th element, we wanted to create a dialogue in the exhibition. That’s Petre Inspirescu’s contribution, whom we invited to imagine a kind of formal musical dialogue with the sculpture of Peter Jecza.” – says Andrei.
We could hear this dialogue right as we entered the gallery, it was almost like an immersive experience in which the sound seemed to be coming out of the “pores” of the exhibited sculptures, a fusion of form and vibration that matched each other like a glove. “The sculpture vibrates in the presence of sound, and that makes it even more beautiful. This is where the idea of bringing the exhibition into contemporaneity and bringing the sculpture, which is perhaps less known to the general public than painting, starts. With the help of music.” he explains.
“My father was an audiophile, a music aficionado par excellence.” Andrei continues.
Alongside Jecza’s bronze sculptures, Pedro’s Sonus Faber studio speakers were exhibited, being a component of the displayed collection themselves and merging with the rest of the showcased pieces. “With his help (i.e. Petre Inspirescu) we managed to bring an extraordinary sound to the gallery through his speakers. We even made the same kind of pedestals for the speakers as for the sculptures, in order not to hide the source of the sound, but on the contrary, to highlight it as much as possible.” Andrei added.
For more than two months, over 3000 visitors, a personal record for Jecza Gallery, were able to delve into this fascinating blend of sound and shape, where there were no creative limits, in which music and visual arts became one.
Asking him how the idea of this unique collaboration was born, Andrei recalls: “After I witnessed a concert of Pedro at Yojik Auditorium, I was convinced that at some point, the time will come for us to collaborate. I proposed the idea and I invited him to Timișoara in February this year where we spent several evenings of discussions. I showed Pedro the works that were going to be exhibited, I told him everything about the idea of the exhibition. He saw the sculptures and entered into a dialogue with them. And from there I think that only the mystery of creation could disclose what happened. Somehow here, a very interesting symbiosis happened in which one artist mirrored the other, they entered a state of reverberation, of vibration, where sound was created. And the collaboration with Pedro was quite straightforward, as you know, he is an intellectual, a person with a special sensitivity. It’s a miraculous moment for me and the joy of seeing that this project has taken such a shape is unprecedented.”
“The opportunity to collaborate with Andrei Jecza arose at a favorable moment with the unique occasion of the first retrospective of his father, Peter Jecza, in his own gallery. Andrei’s desire to merge the two arts truly delighted me, so we decided to try this fusion, which I think has paid off and I hope that it has succeeded to some extent in matching the sculptures of Peter Jecza.” Petre Inspirescu added.
“The idea of modeling musical compositions with the artist’s sculptures came from his philosophy of unification, unity, monad, a philosophical idea that resonates with my beliefs.” he continues.
Five musical compositions will be included in the release: “Volventes“, “Manes“, “Viva Voce“, “Intuitio“, and “Experimentum“.
We got our hands on a 30-second preview of “Viva Voce“, the third track from the upcoming release.
If bronze had a voice, it would undoubtedly sound like this. The composition blends with the essence of the bronze sculptures flawlessly, with sporadic aggravated sounds that overlap each other and a slow bpm that matches the atmosphere of the gallery, allowing the listener to delve profoundly and harmoniously into the audiovisual experience.
The exhibition started on September 27th and ended on December 3rd, after being extended by 2 days.
For the moment there is no further information about the release, but keep an eye on Petre Inspirescu’s socials and on his label page, Yojik ConCon, for more details to be unveiled in the near future.
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