Ioan Nemtoi

Already internationally famous, Ioan Nemtoi has been able (not without difficulties) to establish himself in Great Britain with an exhibition of installations at Oxo Tower Whalf (7-25 April, 2004), when he took over the entire rough-and-tumble building and transformed it into a container of magic. This event led to two fortunate confluences which we could perhaps optimistically describe as an example of enlightened contemporary patronage: an exhibition at the newly inaugurated McLaren Technology Center ( May 2004-March 2005). " I was privilege to visit Ioan Nemtoi's workshop in Dorohoi and I was able to understand something regarding the complexities of working in glass. From the molten lava which is the glass bubbling in the surface at 1,500 centigrades, you have to hand blow the shapes and this is where the difficulties but also the creative excitement really starts because the relationship between technique and the achievement of the final aim which is a particular shape of a particular dimension is an incredibly difficult one. It is very much akin to the work of a carver in wood and stone; the wrong move with the chisel and the material is ruined. A world should be said about this particular colour red which is Nemtoi's invention and therefore it plays a special part in his work; it is gentle rather than a sharp red. This is how Nemtoi red(very much like Pompeian red or Voronet blue) was born." Text by Sand Miller, historical and art critic.