The monographic book of the Romanian conceptual artist Miklós Onucsán (b. 1952) is a substantial interpretive take on a remarkable artistic practice spanning four decades.
The book's title is the conclusion to Onucsán's Axiom from 2005: "White, through wear, becomes darker and black, through wear, becomes lighter. Therefore white is black worn away for good and black is white worn away for good". This notion of erosion-as-metamorphosis, of transition between states of the same object and modalities of its interpretation, is a principle of the artist's practice, a recurring question in the texts gathered in the volume and a visual mechanism for the design of the book. The book brings together essays by Sven Spieker, Magda Radu, Bogdan Ghiu, Mihnea Mircan and Madalina Brasoveanu, and an illuminating, ample interview with Miklós Onucsán conducted in 2018. The texts complement each other by approaching the artist's practice from different theoretical and historical perspectives, and thus offer an insightful guide for the professional and general public alike. The extensive time span of the book is richly illustrated and presented in a reverse chronology, opening with Miklós Onucsán's remarkable contribution to the 2019 Romanian Pavilion in Venice, and concluding with his early works from the late 1970s.
Miklós Onucsán was born in Gherla, România, in 1952 and is currently living and working in Oradea, România. His works have been presented at the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 2019, Art Encounters Biennale, Timis ?oara, 2017, Dallas Biennial, 2014, Intense Proximity - La Triennale 2012, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2012, Romanian Cultural Resolution - Documentary, The New Gallery of IRCCU, 54th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 2011 and the 48th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 1999.
