TRAIAN BOLDEA: Un-Utopie : Altes Dampfbad, Marktplatz 13, 76530 Baden-Baden

One of the most prominent artists, Traian Boldea will present his solo show “Un-Utopie” at the Altes Dampfbad in Baden-Baden. The exhibition, curated by Diana Dochia, PhD, opens on Friday, 15^th of August 2025, between 17:00 and 21:00, and will be on view until 31^st of August 2025. The solo show "Un-Utopie" presents 30 (thirty) small-format paintings from the series "The Line", created between 2021 - 2024. "The Line" series was inspired by one of the most profound and disturbing quotes in world literature: "Here there is no why?" by Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor and author of the famous "If This Is a Man".

The exhibition could be visited from Tuesday to Friday from 13:00 until 18:00 o’clock and Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 until 17:00 o’clock. In other timeframe by appointment at info@anaidartgallery.com or at +49 (0) 172 40 44 166.

In the solo show Un-Utopie, Traian Boldea explores the fragility of collective ideals in a time where meaning collapses, the mass becomes the utopia, and the individual dissolves into uniformity. The exhibition from Altes Dampfbad gathers small-format works from the series The Line, 2021, which, through meditative austerity and graphic precision, express a quiet yet poignant critique of dehumanization through systems, ideologies, and social automatisms.

Inspired by Primo Levi’s testimony from the concentration camp – “Here there is no why” – Boldea addresses not only historical trauma but also its echoes in the present: the emptiness behind collectivity, the speechlessness of the individual, the absurdity of repetition. "Here there is no why?" not only ascertains the lack of reason, but it is also a reflection on the total collapse of the moral and ethical norms that would normally govern human life. This expression summarizes the idea that logic, reason and questions no longer make sense in the face of absolute evil; any attempt to find a justification or explanation becomes useless and essentially absurd.

The brutality described by Primo Levi is painted by Traian Boldea in the form of life sequences which seem to capture moments frozen in time. Small canvases - 30 x 30 cm – contain crowds of humanoids painted in motion, giving the impression of a frieze and/or comics, which can be read circularly and continuously. This is how the crowd is born, seen as an endless line of non-individualized humanoids, caught in various actions at the ends of the imaginable.

The contemporary man cannot consciously perceive such a reality, and often relating to the atrocities of the past is done through an alteration of the memory, of the truthfulness of understanding, of awareness and subsequent experiences. From this point of view, any attempt to accurately capture these atrocities is a failed attempt. The understanding of the “tender spots” of history can be interrogated, discussed and/or reconfigured, broadening and opening new debates through art or even raising an alarm signal. Art offers thus adequate space and framework for the viewer to probe the darkest sides of the human being.

Un-Utopie offers no answers, but a line. A line that separates and connects, that guides and at the same time disappears.

For more information, please visit www.anaidartgallery.com or contact Dr. Diana Dochia at info@anaidartgallery.com.

Traian Boldea was born in 1978 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a graduate of the Art University of Bucharest and a university lecturer. Traian Boldea’s creative approach in the last decade was shaped around the concept of the crowd as a form of utopia, alienation, dehumanization. The crowd, seen as a form of suppression of the individual, would be represented at the beginning of creation, as a stream of people which engulf and suffocate you. The entire creation of the artist contains subtle reminders of subjects which represented the notion of the crowd in the history of European art. The first solo show about the crowd concept took place in 2012 “Babel Tower” at Anaid Art Gallery in Bucharest, Romania. In 2024 he had a major solo show entitled “Unutopia” in Bucharest at Nicolae Minovici Museum. His artworks can be found in private collections from Germany, Romania, France, Italy, Belgium, Israel, USA. He is represented by Anaid Art Gallery, since 2008.

Altes Dampfbad, located in the heart of Baden-Baden, is a historic venue renowned for its cultural significance and architectural beauty. The space offers a unique setting for contemporary art exhibitions, blending classical elegance with modern artistic innovation. Baden-Baden is a UNESCO heritage site, where you can find the most beautiful mixture of old buildings and contemporary art museums and exhibitions.

Anaid Art Gallery, founded in 2004 by the art historian Diana Dochia, PhD, is dedicated to promoting contemporary art and supporting innovative artists from around the world. Known for its forward-thinking exhibitions and diverse programming, the gallery has established itself as a vital platform for contemporary artistic expression. Anaid Art Gallery celebrates over 20 Years on the market of international contemporary art. Starting as a contemporary art gallery in Bucharest in 2004, in a former communist country, being in that moment the 3^rd established private gallery in the hole country (Romania); Anaid Art Gallery opened a second gallery in 2015 in the heart of Berlin. In 2024 the headquarter of the gallery moved to the beautiful cultural city of Baden-Baden. In 2025, the gallery launched the pop-up exhibition program Anaid Art Gallery: It’s time for Paris!, aimed at promoting the artists represented by the gallery over the next two years within the vibrant contemporary art scene of Paris.