daniel brici: The Invisible Kids

Daniel Brici’s art is very much influenced by people who struggle with everyday life matters. Several Romanian social components are harsh and tense and he decides to tackle some: children from socially difficult and vulnerable communities are neglected by the society and thus become ”invisible”. Therefore, through his artworks, Brici tries to give them if not a voice, at least a face. Starting with 2009, Brici dedicates most of his artworks to the ”invisible kids”, from the countryside, from the suburbs, living among them and aiming to get a proper attention for them.

Daniel Brici is an emerging young artist, born in 1987, living and working in Resita, Romania. He had been exhibited in shows in Romania, Holland, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark. In 2012 he was nominated at V Premio Internacional De Artes Plasticas Fundacion Maria Jose Jove Bienal, A Coruna, Spain. He is featured in Snapshot Romania, Contemporary Artists from Romania, Imago Mundi – Luciano Benetton Collection, 2013. In 2014, his artworks were exhibited by Nasui Collection & Gallery in Zurich and Copenhagen. ”Invisible Kids” / ”Copiii care nu se văd” is his first solo show exhibition at Nasui Collection & Gallery.

The artist Brici is interested in the Romanian suburban life, spiced up with mixed realities which characterized it. Living and working in Resita, a Romanian postindustrial city, Brici’s art is very much influenced by people who struggle with everyday life matters, among who he actually lives. The social component is harsh and tense: children from socially difficult and vulnerable communities are neglected by the society and thus become ”invisible”. Therefore, through his artworks, Brici tries to give them if not a voice, at least a face; he also usually names his artworks by real people’s names. In this process of revealing different types of reality, somebody or something which was invisible becomes visible. In this way, the ”invisible” kids can now be known and seen through the artworks, even if in real life some of them do not have an ID.

Starting with 2009, Brici dedicates most of his artworks to the ”invisible kids”, from the countryside, from the suburbs, living among them and aiming to get a proper attention for them.

Using a hyperrealist technique, with meticulous details, Brici’s art can be described as using the effect of ”un-finishing”. The visual characteristic of Brici’s artworks is the extreme alternation from heavily described textures and close-ups to thin, almost electric, basic sketch lines on white or dark backgrounds.

The artwork ”Totonel and his sisters” is invited within the exhibition. It was especially commisioned in 2014 to represent the visual poster for the internationally multi-awarded documentary film directed by Alexander Nanau. The documentary follows the life of Totonel, a nine-year-old illiterate Roma boy, living in the ghetto of Bucharest, in a small room with his two older sisters and three drug-addicted uncles. When he was five, his mother was arrested for dealing drugs. He had little hope of growing up to be different from his immediate peers, until half a year ago when he started going to an alternative educational club in the neighborhood school. The film is produced by HBO Europe, Strada Film and Alexander Nanau Productions.

The exhibition ”The Invisible Kids” / ”Copiii care nu se văd” tackles difficult situations Romanian children experience, offering information on statistic figures and possible solutions: the children with parents working abroad and children with no social and medical papers.

The statistic information, at national level, has been provided through two social programmes.

Salvati Copiii Romania / Save the Children Romania develops a project and campaign ”Children – home alone” / ”Copiii singuri acasă” through which they offer solutions to help the 82.000 children affected by the work migration of one or both parents.

UNICEF Romania’s campaign, ”First priority: no invisible child”, has the goals to offer them ID-es and medical security, to help them go to school and to prevent child abandon, for an estimated number of over 100.000 children, mostly located in rural areas of Romania.