Bogdan Nueleanu - Under your spell

The sculpture Under Your Spell is configured as a plastic object located at the intersection of the organic and the constructed, between the hazard of matter and artistic intentionality. Made of recovered bronze and cast bronze, reunited by welding, the work integrates a temporal dimension into its own structure: the reused fragments are not annulled, but re-signified, becoming carriers of a material memory converted into a new formal system.

From a morphological point of view, the ensemble proposes a tension between two distinct registers. The main volume, of a compact nature, is treated in an expressionist manner, with porous, corroded surfaces, marked by visible interventions of the welding process. This accentuated texture suggests not only an interest in the tactile quality of the material, but also an aesthetic of the “trace”, in which the technical gesture simultaneously becomes a semantic gesture. In opposition, the insertion of a lateral geometric structure — an ordered network — introduces a rational, almost architectural counterpoint, which visually stabilizes the composition and creates a dialogue between the organic and the constructive.

The upper element, made of a bronze with a smooth and reflective finish, functions as a symbolic pole of the work. Its elliptical shape, marked by a precise incision, can be interpreted as a nucleus, an “eye” or a closed, self-referential entity. In relation to the lower mass, this element generates a dynamic of attraction and suspension: it does not seem structurally integrated, but rather “placed” in an unstable balance, suggesting the intervention of an invisible force — a visual metaphor for the idea of ​​“spell” enunciated in the title.

The welding technique acquires, in this context, a double function. Beyond its constructive role, it becomes an autonomous expressive language. The joints are not concealed, but deliberately exposed, assumed as “scars” of the transformation process. Thus, the sculpture exhibits its own genesis, refusing the illusion of perfect unity in favor of an aesthetic of the integrated fragment. This option places the work in a contemporary paradigm in which processuality becomes a constitutive part of meaning.

The relationship with the granite base is essential for the reading of the ensemble. Granite, through its density and stability, functions as an ontological base, anchoring the work in the register of inert material. In contrast, the sculptural form itself, supported by a thin metal rod, seems to defy this gravity, suggesting a tendency to detach. This opposition between massive and precarious, between fixity and suspension, amplifies the internal tension of the composition.

From a semantic perspective, “Under Your Spell” can be interpreted as a meditation on the invisible forces that shape matter and, by extension, human experience. The attraction, seduction or influence — suggested metaphorically by the title — are not represented figuratively, but translated into formal relationships: tensions, unstable balances, contrasts of texture and finish. In this sense, the work does not describe, but evokes, inviting the viewer to an active interpretative participation.

Therefore, the sculpture asserts itself as an open object, in which materiality, technique and form converge in a coherent discourse about transformation, memory and relationship. The viewer does not remain external to this system, but is drawn into a perceptual and conceptual field in which meaning is not fixed, but is constituted in the act of contemplation.

About the artist
Born in 1978 in Săulesti, Gori County, Bogdan Nueleanu grew up near the works of the great sculptor Constantin Brâncusi, located in Târgu Jiu, works that exerted a strong influence on him, instillina in his heart the desire to become an artist. He beqan his artistic studies by enrolling at the School of Arts in Timisoara, where he chose to study sculpture. Immediately after graduation, he became a student at the "Constantin Brâncuși" University in Târgu Jiu, which he left shortly after admission, leaving for Greece, where he became familiar with the welding technique. After a period of five years spent in sunny Greece, he decided to return ta the country and became a student of the painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the West University of Timisoara. Here, studying Picasso, he became acquainted with the sculpture made through the welding technique, whose founding fathers are Pablo Picasso and Julio González.
He describes this experience as revelatory and decides to follow the master's courses in sculpture at the same university. The influences of Brâncusi's works, felt since childhood, along with those of the proto-fathers of welded sculpture, with whom Nueleanu identifies through the prism of his love for sculpture and the industrial experience accumulated in Greece, speak forthemselves, Bogdan Nueleanu representing a true standard in terms of welded sculpture. Bogdan Nueleanu is currently a doctoral student at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design in Timisoara, where he is conducting detailed research on the agglutination of different types of metals in welded sculpture. He is a member of the Union of Visual Artists of Romania, Timisoara branch, since 2010. His artistic activity includes numerous exhibitions, both in the country and abroad, and he has been awarded several prizes, including: the Youth Prize of the Union of Visual Artists, at the Annual Visual Arts Salon (2012). the "Pro Cultura Timisiensis" Prize (2013). awardeo by the Timis County Council, the Diploma of Excellence for Sculpture (2016), from the Union of Visual Artists, Timisoara branch, and in 2017 he was awarded the Diploma of Excellence for merits in promoting culture, awarded by the Timisoara City Hall. Bogdan Nueleanu chooses metal as his working material, being attracted by the chromatic valences it possesses and, in this spirit, he creates a series of associations between different tvpes of metals, thus marking a new beginning, in which metal is not only a raw material through which the artist preserves the work, but also a means of artistic expression, through which feelings seem to come to life with the chromaticism of the metals. Thus, we encounter in his works, rusty metals, as a trace of the time passed over them, but also shiny metals, which reflect the environment, capturing the vibrations of the moment, as well as chromatically highlighted metals, emphasizing the painterly side of the artist. He often fuses different metals. such as bronze and iron, using the lost wax method or with the help of welding in a protective gas environment, creating works characterized both by the muted chromaticism of the metals and by a dripping of the texture, a fluid state through which the metal passes on its way to eternity. The artist's works fall. without a doubt. into the series of searches in the field of metals with different properties and characteristics and represent the embodiment of the effort made to highlight the chromatic valences of the noblest metals used in sculpture.