MIMOSA - FAK.ARTĂ

Art lovers are warmly invited to the opening of the "MIMOSA" exhibition by the Fak. Artă Group, on Saturday, May 17, 2025, starting at 6:00 PM, at the After 5 Art Escape Gallery in Arad, located at 15D Ștefan Cicio Pop Street (corner with M. Eminescu Street).

The Fak. Artă Group brings together two visual artists from Timișoara – Ritta Hertz (Andreea Henrietta Hertz) and Bab (Isabella Elena Becheanu) – who have been exhibiting together in this formation since 2023.

The curator of the event, Dr. Gabriela Robeci, invites us to reflect on the question, "How Important Is It to Be a Mimosa?" and offers the following thoughts:

„The appeal to soft power is a geopolitical concept linked to the consolidation of influence through popular culture. On a smaller scale, feminine power can be seen as a form of soft power: subtle, wellbeing-inducing, yet firm in its presence.

This is the lens through which we can understand the “mimosa”: either as a fragile plant, hypersensitive to touch, or as a feminine figure associated with exaggerated delicacy. The term often carries pejorative connotations. The Fak.Artă group begins from these preconceptions to reframe sensitivity as a qualitative strength. While the plant may be seen as delicate, it demonstrates an ability to defend itself when threatened by curling inward and closing its leaves. It also exudes a regenerative force, returning to its original form after any sensory aggression, as long as it is alive. This “shame upon touch” functions as a vegetal self-defence mechanism. Thus, our understanding of the mimosa should go beyond the prejudice of modesty and move toward recognizing it as a form of protective and generative strength.

Femininity and vegetation have been symbolically linked since ancient times. The prehistoric cult of fertility and nature's rebirth evolved into the image of the mother-goddess as nature’s caretaker. The attributes of vegetation were transferred to femininity, and so-called "flaws" were similarly projected onto women.

Just as the mimosa fights for its own wellbeing, women are portrayed as a being capable of self-protection, regeneration, and rebirth after trauma. The feminine qualities of nurturing plants, guiding their growth and fruitfulness, the maternal dimension of humanity, are inherent themes in the artworks of the Mimosa exhibition.

Ritta Hertz has developed a personal technique of collage and transfer, applied to paper, canvas, and plexiglass. Her collaged images draw on iconic female figures: women recognized for their achievements across various fields. One key reference is photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, one of the first to explore photography as an artistic medium. Inspired by staged compositions, Cameron is now known for her slightly blurred, motion-filled portraits, which convey the spontaneity of a fleeting moment. Until the 19th century, vegetation in visual arts was typically used as mere background decoration, becoming a main subject only with the advent of plein-air landscape painting. Similarly, until the 20th century, the female figure was traditionally treated as a muse, not as an autonomous subject. Only with shifts in social perception, the feminine and vegetal became central elements in visual creations. The subjects explored by Ritta Hertz reflect this transition: stepping out of the background and anonymity, and placing both vegetation and femininity at the center of the composition and the artistic discourse.

Bab employs a mixed-media approach, combining art objects, textiles, sculpture, inserted elements, electricity, small motors, and assemblage. Her compositions invite interaction: they are meant to be touched, opened, closed, or handled. The senses play a central role in the aesthetic experience. Through kineticism, the works stimulate perception and curiosity, requiring an active, involved audience. Just as Paul Neagu used boxes to engage the viewer in the act of creation, Bab encapsulates emotion in art objects equipped with doors, drawers, shelves, and handles: boxes that become creative products. On a symbolic level, these boxes embody ideas of interiority, protection, and self-defense, but also release, opening, and reconnection when activated by the viewer.

The Mimosa exhibition is an invitation to rethink the concept of soft power through the lens of the plant and the feminine. As Nikolaus Pevsner noted (in The Sources of Modern Architecture and Design), the audience must meet artists halfway, toward understanding by asking questions, researching, and engaging. Only then can the full meaning of the works and their visual narrative be grasped.

With small steps, from local to national and international, “The road to Tate passes through Arad” (said Simona Brait, in a note left in the exhibition Fa, March 8th!?, at Helios Gallery, in Timișoara, 2024). By presenting globally relevant themes in local contexts, our steps are naturally guided toward the contemporary relevance of art”

At the opening of the event, Dr. Gabriela Robeci will provide insights into the personalities and creative work of the artists.

The exhibition will be open to visitors at the After 5 Art Escape Gallery until June 28, 2025.

For additional information, please contact us at after5artescape@gmail.com or by phone at +40 775 385 985.