Marius Bercea (b. 1979) lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He came to prominence as a painter with psychologically striking depictions of Romania in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain. More recently, Bercea has focused his attention on portraiture of young Romanians, specifically the generation born around 1989 who have come to consciousness in the post- Cold War admixture of Communist memories and capitalist liberal democracy. Bercea’s shift towards portraiture is richly informed by the history of early modernist painting, such as the Édouard Vuillard and the Nabis group’s interest in vivid patterning, textiles, and the symbolic realm. His recent solo exhibitions include The Far Sound of Cities at MAKI, Tokyo (2021); Thieves of Time, Francois Ghebaly, Los Angeles (2020); Time Can Space, Blain|Southern, Berlin (2018); A Full Rotation of the Moon, Cluj Museum of Art, Romania (2017). A new book of his photography, Sun Tan Mustang, was published in the summer of 2019.