Roman Tolici is associated with a photographic realism infused by poetry and a surreal sense of everyday existence. His paintings seem to be details of a monumental story related to the general human questions and anxieties.
This narrative force turns the recurrent subjects into never-ending chapters and the reflections of everyday life into projections about time, memory and traces captured by the artist's tender perception.
His understanding of poetry, photographic realism and pursuit of mundane subjects made me think of the great Russian Non-Conformist Semyon Faibisovich. But, underpinned by a strong horizontal emphasis, Tolici panned out from Faibisovich close-up to reveal the bigger picture – eschewing Faibisovich’s attempts to coat mundanity in poetic blur.
It came as no surprise to learn that Tolici had graduated in Graphic Art. His technique is razor-sharp.
Many artists, after achieving success, stick to the style that has brought them it. Not Tolici. Although his brushwork retains its Ingresque precision, now with an even defter touch, his vision has morphed from photo-realist to surrealist.
Roman Tolici's works come in different sizes and formats – some large, some small; some vertical, some horizontal; one can even hang at a diagonal. There is humour, irony, hope, hopelessness, magnificent painting and neo-Vorticist spatial awareness. Some canvases are busy, others almost empty. The underlying message? You tell me. Each work creates a world of its own. These paintings exist to be absorbed.
I first saw his works in 2008 at Bucharest’s MNAC: a vast, Ceaușescian space where paintings can easily lose themselves. Tolici’s paintings (dominated by his Park series) occupied it and my mind. (Simion Hewitt, curator)
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Roman ToliciSummer, 2022oil on canvas190 x 190 cm
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Roman ToliciWinter, 2022oil on canvas190 x 190 cm
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Roman ToliciA Field of Flowers Is a Battlefield, 2021oil on canvas150 x 200 cm
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Roman ToliciSeven Sins, 2021watercolor on paper50 x 71 cm
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Roman ToliciSeven Sins, 2021watercolor on paper71 x 50 cm (each)
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Roman ToliciSilent Scream, 2021oil on canvas60 x 30 cm
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Roman ToliciSpring, 2021oil on canvas190 x 190 cm
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Roman ToliciThe Pursuit of Happiness 2, 2021oil on canvas37 x 26 cm
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Roman ToliciThe Pursuit of Happiness 3, 2021oil on canvas37 x 26 cm
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Roman ToliciDon’t Fuck With the Light, 2020oil on canvas190 x 190 cm
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Roman ToliciMessenger 1, 2020oil on canvas87 x 50 cm
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Roman ToliciBucharester 1, 2019watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciWe Run the Earth, 2019oil on canvas241 x 200 cm
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Roman ToliciHomo Deus, 2018oil on canvas242 x 200 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 12, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 14 , 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 17 , 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 20, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 22, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 4, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 5, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciNewyorker 8, 2018watercolor, acrylic on paper mounted on wood14,8 x 10,5 cm
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Roman ToliciThe Matter Over Piata Victoriei, 2018oil on canvas41 x 62 cm
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Roman ToliciUndercover 2, 2018oil on canvas79 x 59 cm
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Roman ToliciDark Matter Over Lloret de Mar 3, 2017oil on canvas242 x 200 cm
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Roman ToliciKeep Walking, 2017oil on linen37 x 26 cm
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Roman ToliciLove Line I, 2017acrylic and pencil on golden paper29,5 x 21 cm
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Roman ToliciLove Line II, 2017acrylic and pencil on golden paper29,5 x 21 cm
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Roman ToliciOn the Other Hand, 2017acrylic and pencil on golden paper29 x 21 cm
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Roman ToliciSelfie 2, 2017oil on canvas62 x 41 cm
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Roman ToliciSmoker, 2017oil on canvas37 x 26 cm
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Roman ToliciThe Matter Over NYPD Officer, 2017oil on canvas87 x 50 cm
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Roman ToliciThreesome, 2017oil on canvas50 x 70 cm
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Roman ToliciUndercover II, 2017acrylic and pencil on golden paper29 x 21 cm
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Roman ToliciDark Matter Over Lloret de Mar 2, 2016oil on linen242 x 200 cm
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Roman ToliciThere Is No Heart, 2015oil on canvas100 x 130 cm
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Roman ToliciThere Is No Time, 2015oil on canvas242 x 130 cm
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Roman ToliciBloody Peace 1, 2013oil on canvas40 x 40 cm
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Roman ToliciBloody Peace 2, 2013oil on canvas80 x 60 cm
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Roman ToliciBloody Hand, 2012oil on canvas86 x 63 cm
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Roman ToliciMask, 2011acrylic and oil on canvas75 x 55 cm
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Roman ToliciOne Life, 2010oil on canvas180 x 600 cm (4 panels)
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Roman ToliciOne Sunset, 2009oil on canvas100 x 130 cm
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Roman ToliciOne Gate, 2008-2011oil on canvas130 x 100 cm
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Roman ToliciFace of the Earth 2, 2006oil on canvas100 x 130 cm
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Roman ToliciCensored Jesus, 2003acrylic on canvas200 x 100 cm
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Roman ToliciOne Morning, 2003oil on canvas200 x 150 cm
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PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Roman Tolici 22 February - 18 April 2023 -
MOBIUS at UVNT 2022
24 - 27 February 2022UVNT is a New Contemporary Art fair that offers unique points of view through a curated selection of national and international art galleries. With 5 editionsbehind us, we include some of the most avant-garde and out-of-the- ordinary trends, which from the beginning have been part of our DNA.Read more -
Art in Motion
Andrei Gamarț & Roman Tolici 17 - 21 November 2020”Art in Motion” in partnership with Qreator by IQOS presents a selection of works by Roman Tolici and Andrei Gamart in two forms: - the original one, as created by the artist, and the other, a mirrored and animated version.Read more -
Roman Tolici
14 October - 31 December 2018Tolici is fascinated by the relationship between individual and collective consciousness - by our personal choices and actions and the dynamics that result when we come together as families, communities, or simply strangers with a common interest.Read more -
Homo Deus
Curated by Anton Svyatsky 3 - 31 August 2018'Homo Deus' amalgamates the individual practices of the artists into a collective vision, thereby creating a comprehensive description of the precarious and precipitous landscape human civilization currently find itself in.Read more -
Out of The Blue
Curated by Ioana Ciocan 8 - 30 April 2017-We are out of the blue. We open our eyes and here it is. -What? -E V E R Y T H I N G! Every moment, every day, over and over again, from the beginning till the end - which we call death, but it might as well be...Read more -
Simvlacrvm
Roman Tolici 8 October - 14 November 2015The exhibition is curated by the Oxford-trained, Swiss-based art critic Simon Hewitt, a regular contributor to The Art Newspaper, Art + Auction and The Huffington Post. Many artists, after achieving success, stick to the style that has brought them it. Not Tolici. Although his brushwork retains its Ingresque precision, now...Read more
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Roman Tolici4th of July (USA)Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm56.7 x 76 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciAccident in Amzei SquareHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm73.7 x 60 cm
Only 21 pieces availableEdition of 50€ 720.00 + TVA (19%) -
Roman ToliciFiveHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm60 x 60 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciOneHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm70 x 70 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciOne SongHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm88,4 x 170 cmEdition of 50€ 840.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciSunriseHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm104 x 78 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciThere is No DeathHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm75 x 61 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciThere is No HopeHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm100 x 62 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)
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Roman ToliciWhite Matter in Cinema Patria HallHahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm105 x 85.4 cmEdition of 50€ 570.00 + TVA (19%)