Sculptor de autentică vocaţie, Eugen Petri este în primul rând un “bronzier” rafinat, care exploatează cu inteligenţă potenţialităţile structive şi expresive ale materialului, aşa cum o dovedesc “Muzicienii” săi, contopindu-se cântând, cu diverse instrumente. Într-un mod ingenios instrumentele devin în concepţia artistului elementele principale ale configurării siluetelor, în arcuiri şi volute îndrăzneţe, integratoare de spaţiu. Uşor şarjate, aceste “portrete” demonstrează pe lângă solide cunoştiinţe legate de arhitectonica volumelor şi a modalităţilor de încorporare ale golului, esenţiale în sculptură, o pătrundere empatetică a esenţelor muzicii, mai ales prin sugestia ritmului şi a melodicităţii articulărilor contrapunctice.

Alte dimensiuni cuprinse de artist în sfera preocupărilor sale, pe lângă numeroasele lucrări de artă monumentală, sunt cele pe care le putem denumi, în mod convenţional, ca aflate sub semnul sacrului (“Clopot”, “Consiliul Profeţilor”, “Profet”) sau mitologicului (“Icar”, “Piciorul lui Hermes”).

 

 

                                                                                                                       February 2007

 

Eugen Petri este un artist de forta al sculpturii romanesti, pastrand o linie constanta a creatiei sale, abordeaza teme reprezentative ale spiritualitatii noastre. Muzici de tambal ori de nai insotesc un univers de clopote, regi, icari, profeti, bufoni regali. Materia se contorsioneaza in expresii ce-si povestesc existente, fulgerari de idee si gand. Lemn, piatra, bronz intr-o batalie pentru suflet si pentru forma. Imi revine acum in memorie imaginea unei lucrari „Cuplu” (lemn, 60x60x6 cm, colectie privata, Suedia) incadrat intr-o fereastra impartita in 4. In partea de sus formele acestui cuplu, in partea de jos eternitatea si spatiul gol ori liber dintre istoria noastra, a privitorului si istoria poate ca inca secreta (poate ca inca in tiparul lemnului din care a luat viata). Sufletul si formele lui mai navigheaza in spatiul memoriei mele.

 

Iunie 2006

 

 

 

 

 

Eugen Petri is a powerful artist of the Romanian sculpture, maintaining a constant line of his creation and undertaking representative themes of our spirituality. Cimbalom or pan-pipes music accompany a universe of bells, kings, icaruses, prophets and royal buffoons. The matter is contorted in expressions which tell about their existences, lightning of ideas and thoughts. Wood, stone, , bronze in a battle for soul and for shape. I can now revive the memory of the image of the “Couple” (wood, 60x60x6 cm, private collection, Sweden) in a window frame divided into 4. In the upper part the shapes of this couple, in the lower part, the eternity and the empty or free space between our history, that of the watcher and the probably still secret one of the couple (maybe still within the shape of the wood which gave them life). His soul and shapes still navigate in the space of my memory.

 

June 2006

 

 

 

 

It is somehow reassuring to watch the visionary spirit of Brancusi striking again. After a century, one can meet the offsprings of Brancusi, like the sculptor Eugen Petri, embracing vanguard modalities of reaching people.

 

Bridget Stevens, arts critic

Belgium, 2002

 

 

Spiritul vizionar al lui Brancusi afirmandu-se din nou este intr-un fel o reasigurare pentru arta contemporana. Dupa un secol, se pot observa urmasi ai lui Brancusi, printre care se numara si sculptorul Eugen Petri, adoptand modalitati avangardiste de a ajunge la public si a-i atinge prin arta sa.

 

Bridget Stevens, critic de arta

Belgia, 2002

 

 

“His work encompasses pieces that span from marble and bronze-clad torsos to government commissioned monuments that span 30 ft in height. Eugen Petri finds his inspiration in both travels as well as the exploration of various cultural traditions. The obvious forms and shapes in Petri’s work, which include “Prophet”, “Bell”, “Icarus”, “Couple” were inspired most closely by the Byzantine artwork of thirteenth century monasteries. “

 

S.U.A. 2001

 

„Opera sa cuprinde lucrari care variaza de la marmura si torsuri in bronz pana la monumente comandate de guvern cu dimensiuni de pana la 4m in inaltime. Eugen Petri isi gaseste inspiratia atat in calatorii cat si in explorarea diferitelor traditii culturale. Liniile si formle evidente ale operei lui Petri includ „Profetul”, „Clopot”, „Icar”, „Cuplu”, care au fost in maremasura inspirate din lucrarile de arta bizantina din manastirile secolului al treisprezecelea.”

 

S.U.A. 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eugen Petri ne aminteste cat de aproape suntem de cer si cat de inevitabili legati de acest pamant. Cand ma infioara „Clopotele”, dorul de zbor al „Icarului”, minunea de a fi „Barbat” alaturi de o „Femeie”, la frumusetea, chiar daca rara, a omului ca un „Rege”, nu pot decat sa-i multumesc intamplarii ca Eugen Petri exista. Daca nu credeti asta, atunci inventati-l!

 

1997

 

Eugen Petri reminds us how close we are to the sky and how inevitably tied to the earth we are. When I shiver at the „Bells”, at the flight desire of the „Icarus”, at the wonder of being a „Man” next to a „Woman”, at the rare beauty of the man as „King”, I can only be thankful to the happening that Eugen Petri exists. If you don’t believe this, invent him!

 

1997

 

 

 

 

...amestec de gotic cu bizantinism, Eugen Petri reuseste sa lupte impotriva anchilozei de care sufera arta noastra.

 

Razvan Teodorescu

1995

 

 

...mixture of Gothic and Byzantine, Eugen Petri manages to fight against the stiffness which affects our art.

 

Razvan Teodorescu

1995

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eugen Petri aduce in arta sa simboluri ale inariparii temeiniciei noastre, a asezarii, icari, atlasi, hermesi, talpile serioase calca, strivesc solul apasat, amprenteaza locul in care se afla, dar care, niciodata, oricat de bine infipte in pamant ar fi, in solul acesta nu va reusi sa iasa din aceasta aspiratie angevina, angelica, care duce spre zbor, spre implinirea spirituala.

 

Decembrie 2005

 

Eugen Petri brings into his art symbols of the feathering of our solidity, of settling, Icaruses, Atlases, Hermeses, solid soles tread, crush the compressed soil, leave imprints the place where they are, but which never, however well stuck in the ground they may be, in this soil, they will never manage to exit this angevine, angelical aspiration, which leads to flight, to spiritual involvement.

 

                                                                                                            Corneliu Antim,arts critic

December 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd say, from the beginning, that Eugen Petri's sculpture stays under the sign of a fertile paradox: it is postmodern and at the same time obsolete. The sculptor, essentially endowed with a patient maturity, does not only unveil the lesson of an imagistic model but also, and to a higher extent, that of an ideatic pattern: the myth.

 

Dr. Alexandru Lungu, General Director-

 National Brukenthal Museum , Sibiu, Romania

1999

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eugen Petri has the vocation of an archetypal "Icarus"; his sculpture achieves the bipolarity of the "profane" and "sacred". Both moral alternatives coexist in his characters, without diminishing the purpose...

The artist frequently uses the theme of the "bell", achieving a remarkable performance of expression, though his power of synthesis and speculating the natural beauty of the wood. The series of the "kings" is distinguished by a solemn, legendary aura. The forms are polished in different degrees, from mat to high glass, enhancing the allegoric expression of the whole compositions.

 

Articol from"Romania Libera", 1997

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eugen Petri traieste intr-un model de perfectionism pe care ni-l dezvaluie prin opera sa. O face insa pe o strada bizara, pe o strada profund deschisa, pentru ca cei ce-si asuma matematica, muzica, ating un teritoriu al unei spiritualitati de o speta aparte care comporta o atitudine, crezuri morale si estetice foarte bine sedimentate, un mestesug, o iscusinta profesionala de la care nu ai voie sa abdici. Abdicarea implica disiparea formei, alunecarea in poezie, adica acolo, intr-o lume a nimanui si a tuturor, unde e loc de orice, dar unde arta plastica nu incape pentru ca formele au contur, au consistenta materiala, au substanta, au precizie.

 

Eugen Petri impaca toate aceste atribute, toate aceste cerinte severe, care sunt si judecati estetice la fel de severe, intr-o zona pe care eu indraznesc sa o numesc putin aventurista. A configura plastic jazz-ul, dincolo de forma umana, a configura o abstractiune, precum este sunetul, e deja o aventura. El a gasit o forma de expresie, o judecata, o viziune, prin care incearca sa reimpace aceste componente si sa ni le redistribuie intr-o forma coerenta si chiar simpatica. Nu stiu daca Eugen Petri traieste in acest moment, cu acest eseu plastic, mai mult in muzica, in jazz, sau in plastica. E foarte greu sa fac aceasta delimitare. Artele plastice si in general toate artele, traiesc un moment al experientalismului, care nu se mai termina, un moment al unei vagabondari prin exercitii experimentaliste care nu stiu unde vor duce, dar in orice caz, exercitiile de echilibru, de sensibilitate, de profunzime sau, cum spune chiar artistul de „suflet si forma” nu vor pieri, in ciuda a tot ceea ce se intampla, mai mult sau mai putin furtunos, in lumea artelor de pretutindeni. Este foarte important ca Eugen Petri s-a manifestat printr-o expresie plastica inconfundabila, ce-l defineste, emotional si profesional, acestei expresii adaugandu-i-se o marja de credinta, pasiune si prietenie in numele acestor crezuri artistice.

 

Eu cred in el ca bronzist, un artist modelator, unul dintre cei mai buni pe care ii avem la acest moment, printre putinii care ne-au mai ramas dealtfel. El este un temei, o borna, este un reper, e un artist important, nu putem trece peste el, nu ne lasa sa trecem peste el, sta in calea noastra si spune: „Atentie, aici se intampla ceva! Se intampla ceva sensibil, atingeti-ma, intrati in brate cu mine, mergeti impreuna cu mine, si de aici incolo este Edenul!...”

 

Mai 2006

 

 

 

Eugen Petri lives in a model of perfectionism which he unveils through his artwork. Nevertheless he does it through a bizarre street, through a profoundly opened street, for which those who assume mathematics, music, reach a territory of a different type of spirituality, which involves very well settled attitudes and moral and esthetical beliefs, a an art an professional skill which one cannot abdicate. Abdication involves the dissipation of shape, slipping into poetry, in other words in a world of nobody and everybody, where there is room for anything, but where plastic art doesn’t have room, because shapes have contours, material consistence, they have substance and precision.

 

Eugen Petri conciliates all these attributes, all these severe requests, which are at the same time equally severe esthetical judgements in an area that I dare call a little venturesome. To configure jazz plastically, beyond the human shape, to configure an abstraction such as sound is already an adventure. He found a form of expression, a judgement, a vision through which he is trying to reconcile these elements and redistribute them in a coherent and likeable way. I don’t know whether Eugen Petri is living in this very moment together with this plastic essay more into music, into jazz or rather in plastic art. It is very difficult to make this delimitation. The plastic arts and, in general, all arts, live a moment of the experimentalism which never ends, a moment of a vagrancy amongst experimentalist exercises which I don’t know where will lead, but are, by all means, exercises of equilibrium, sensitivity and profoundness or, as the artist himself points out, of “soul and shape” which will never perish, despite all that is happening, more or less storming, in the world of arts all over the world. It is very important that Eugen Petri manifested himself through an unmistakeable plastic expression, which defines him emotionally and professionally, this expression being complemented by a brim of faith, passion and friendship in the name of these artistic creeds.

 

I believe in him as bronzist, as a modelling artist, one of the best we have at the moment, one of the few we have left as a matter of fact. He is a foundation and a milestone, he is a landmark an important artist, we cannot pass him by we won’t let us pass him by, he is standing right in our way, saying “Pay attention, something is happening over here! Something sensitive is happening, touch me, enter my arms with me, walk together with me and from here on you will find the Eden!”

 

May 2006

 

 

 

 

Acestei expozitii a lui Eugen Petri i-as spune mai degraba o confesiune, o marturisire a bucuriei artistului de a locui in vecinatatea sau cel mai adesea in interiorul muzicii, a jazz-ului. E vorba de o confesiune a artistului, ce incearca - asa cum Nichita Stanescu sonoriza orice atom - sa descompuna muzica si sa o reaseze, sa o reintegreze in tridimensionalitate, sa ii confere muzicii, daca este posibil, materialitate, si nu in sensul vulgului, ci o materialitate in sensul spatialitatii, elegante, subtile.Eugen Petri imi aminteste de sonoritatile scandinave prin rafinamentul liniei, al incarcaturii emotionale ascunse. Poate ca nu sunt departe cu aceasta afirmatie, Eugen Petri avand o educatie, o crestere in preajma educatiei germanice.”

 

 

Florin Sutu, pictor, presedinte Filiala U.A.P.Prahova

Mai 2006

 

 

I would rather call this exhibition of Eugen Petri a confession of the happiness of the artist of living in the proximity of, or more often within music, jazz. It is all about a confession of the artist who is trying – just like Nichita Stanescu was resounding any atom – to decompose music and rearrange it, reintegrate it in three-dimensionality, to confer the music, if it is possible, materiality, and no in the meaning of the popular term, but rather a materiality in the meaning of an elegant and subtle spatiality. Eugen Petri reminds me of the Scandinavian sonorities through the refinement of the line, of the hidden emotional charge. I may not be very far with this statement, Eugen having an education and upbringing in the proximity of the German education.

 

Florin Sutu, painter, president of U.A.P. Prahova,

May 2006

 

 

 

„Daca ii inveti limba, jazz-ul sugereaza emotiile intime ale sufletului, reactiile adanci ale subconstientului” (Gunthe Schuller) si printr-un maiastru arc de inspiratie, jazz-ul a cucerit prin mana si sufletul artistului Eugen Petri si universul truidimensional al artelor vizuale, purtand acum o semnatura ce ne onoreaza. Armonia formelor- forme nascute intr-o zodie prin excelenta a artei - canta.

Mai 2006

 

 

If you learn its language, jazz suggests the intimate emotions of the soul, the deep reactions of the subconscious” (Gunther Schuller) and through an wonderful arch of inspiration , the jazz has conquest through the hand and soul of the sculptor Eugen Petri the three-dimensional universe of visual arts, now bearing a signature that honours us. The harmony of shapes, born under a sign by excellence of the art, sings.

 

                                                                                                         Nicoleta Ionita, journalist

May 2006

 

 

 

 

Tot ceea ce ne ofera Eugen Petri impresioneaza prin originalitate, prin obsesia frumosului, a sensibilului, prin pasiune, prin reflectiile asupra „povestii fara de sfarsit cu jazz”.

 

 

2006

 

 

Everything that Eugen Petri is offering us is impressive through its originality, through the obsession for the beautiful, for the sensitive, through passion, through the reflections on „the endless story with blacks”.

 

2006

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                 May 2007