Claudia “Cotrutza” French
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Claudia “Cotrutza” French STATEMENT The value that I see in the real life of things I live with my eyes and soul is priceless. I want to show through my paintings not only colours, but also shapes, textures, forms, dimensions, indefinite imagination and poetry. I do use oils, acrylics, ink and watercolours, and besides these all I add materials like fabrics and paper. I am in awe of many things that are happening in our world, as politics it may concerns, so in many of my pieces I do talk to people about either my own memories of older times lived in oppression or about the present times living in freedom and its own issues. My obsession in art is also with the trees that are for me an infinite subject, I cannot even describe the love for trees and their natural beauty, unique and individual forms and beauty. I use a specific style called mosaic and it is not done in glass or porcelain, but in paper or fabric. Art is in my dreams and in my breathing day to day. BIO Born on April 6th, 1956, Brasov, Romania, grew up a precocious youngster with remarkable abilities in art as a small child. Taking private drawing tutoring with the Russian teacher, Mrs. Berliba, at 7 years of age, Cotrutza first learned how to handle watercolours and drawing with graphite. Peers and teachers alike saw Cotrutza’s quick pen, pencil and colouring abilities as she created clear concepts recognized by all. Known as “Claudia Cotruta” (hereafter “Cotrutza” as pronounced in Romanian) by all who knew her since student days, this quick study raced through her schooling and was accepted into the Arts Academy in Brasov. While attending the Arts Academy, Cotrutza studied drawing, painting, sketching, tapestry, textile, composition, sculpture, aesthetics, manual drafting, history of art, finishing her Bachelor degree in textile and tapestry. As well as being a prolific student artist and gallery favourite, Cotrutza sang jazz in the local Jazz Club band, wrote published poetry, becoming the voice and finally MC for the Brasov Symphony Orchestra Concerts. As with many artists in Romania, Cotrutza’s dream was to go study further the arts and attend the Arts University, but this was never to be, politics being as they were. Thus, while working for various companies, Cotrutza was assigned to painting political panoramas and signs. She managed to find work along with her peers, restoring icons and murals, painting portraits as well as hand painting porcelain. All the while, Cotrutza painted and created tapestries in all the cutting-edge styles, executing quite a number of studies in charcoal, portraits, and paintings depicting Romanian society. It was not long after her brief professional beginnings in Romania that Cotrutza’s parents, seen by the communists as dangerous dissidents, were granted visas to leave Romania for the U.S., since the government was desperately trying to hold itself together. Cotrutza followed them after three years, moving to the Los Angeles area. Sadly, the Romanian government seized all of Cotrutza’s works upon her leaving. Of these works, only one still resides in the collection of a former military general in Bucharest. Established her new California environment, Cotrutza became involved in the fashion world, representing the major designers for Spanish-owned Harris Department Stores, while establishing her mother as master tailor and specialty designer. After some years, Cotrutza left the world of fashion show runways to study computer-aided design. Cotrutza embarked upon a series of paintings, portraits, collages, and icons while supporting herself as a designer for architects and engineers alike. Cotrutza’s works can be seen in private collections. They were shown by the Studio Gallery in Irvine, California, in January 2000, Spring 2002, Fall 2003, January 2005, 2006, and 2008, by curator Antoinette Sullivan; in Bistango galleries in Irvine and La Jolla, California; St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Pomona, California and at the Los Angeles Art Walk. Her icons also enjoy popularity in Southland churches and private collections. The opening of “Cotrutza Gallery” on Gallery Row in Downtown Los Angeles has given voice to Cotrutza’s prolific art output, allowing the public to digest the depth and breadth of Cotrutza’s work on a long-term basis. The theme of her exhibit “Memories from my youth in Communist Romania” (summer 2010) brought to public view images that educate and teach whoever is thirsty for understanding lives touched by the unforgettable and oppressive dictatorial regime of Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. August 2010 marked the opening of Cotrutza Gallery. Three weeks later, the Los Angeles Times featured a long article on Cotrutza’s “Memories from my youth in Communist Romania.” Thus, Cotrutza Gallery celebrates Art Born of Oppression. Her art didn’t stop. In November of 2011, she had a new show, “Memories from the future”, including oil paintings about revolutions, movements in the free country and finding corruption and capitalism at its worst. While showing constantly with Raw Artists of Pomona, California, Arts Colony in Corona, California, Cotrutza is working on a new series of trees, which will be shown in the near future. ARTIST CONTACT [click to email] IMAGES
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