Neculai Păduraru

(b Sagna, 19 June 1946). Romanian sculptor and painter. He studied at the Institute of Fine Art 'N. Grigorescu' in Bucharest under Paul Vasilescu, graduating in 1975. He belonged to a generation of sculptors that reacted to Brancusi's work with a figurative vision inspired by ancient Mediterranean sculpture. Paduraru drew upon mythological literature and folklore for his subject-matter, creating a personal universe of monsters and fabulous creatures that were subjected to torture, destruction and resurrection in dynamic narratives. The works, most of them in bronze, are generally small and intimate, although he also created ensembles on a monumental scale for urban settings. He was a modeller of great refinement, who avoided spectacular effects in favour of subtly coloured surfaces. From the late 1970s he also concentrated on painting, producing expressive works that relate to the sculptures both thematically and stylistically. In 1988 he was given a retrospective exhibition at the Galeria de Art? Dalles in Bucharest, which featured a large selection of paintings, sculptures, installations and monuments. Here his work appeared to be moving in a new direction, as for the first time he exhibited works influenced by abstract and conceptual art.

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