26. Animula, Vagula, Blandula [1987]

Shortly before reaching the age of 50, Ion Nicodim conceived the cycle of "Hearts" as a commotion from within. The beginning is painting, but as he progresses with this theme, he manages to combine simple materials, make collages and use them together in designing compositions. Humble materials are subsumed by the sign of the heart. The pulsation and the material are captured in this cordiform series of relief-assemblies made of pieces of wood, tar and sackcloth, spikes, nails, clay, tin and gold polishes. An eternal emblem of life and vulnerability, Nicodemus' heart is like a reminder of our ephemeral nature, which also links the particularities of humanity with what is common and universally intelligible. The emblem of the heart is not seen as a praise of sentimentality or as a humanitarian cliché, but rather emphasizes the subjectivity of Homo sapiens sapiens, the primordial and universal constituent of human nature. The image of the heart is a meditation on one's own life and inner thoughts, hence the title of the work, inspired by the poem written by Emperor Adrian in 138 BC, "Animula, Vagula, Blandula", in which he addresses the soul before death.

References

Nicodim-Geze, Ilinca, "Ion Nicodim", Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2011

Dimensions

width 81 cm, height 95 cm, custom 95 × 81 cm

Description

wood, nails, metal, string

Research information

The artwork was part of the exhibition "Romanian Artists Abroad", Germany, December 2012 - January 2013. The artwork is reproduced in "Ion Nicodim", Ilinca Nicodim-Gèze, Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2011, at pp. 66 and 86.

Dating

1987

PROVENANCE

private collection, France; since 2012, private collection, Germany

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