Constantin Severin was born on the 8th of February 1952, in Baia de Arama, Romania.

He is a visual artist, member of the International Art Group ”3rd Paradigm(“http://3rdparadigm.net”), together with the artists Adrian Bayreuther , Alberto D’Assumpcao, Olga Dmytrenko , Harriette Lawler, Izabella Pavlushko and of European Artists Association, Velbert, Germany. His art is represented by Opera Gallery, Budapest.
He is also a writer, member of the Romanian Writers’ Union, represented by Your Agent Agency, Oslo.

From 1991 to 2004 he worked as a journalist for different Romanian publications, but also for BBC and Free Europe radio. Currently Constantin Severin works at the County’s Library of Bucovina ”I.G. Sbiera”,Suceava.

He has published over 800 articles, essays and interviews on culture, art theory and criticism, as well as on other issues of Romanian and international interest. He is the theorist and promoter of archetypal expressionism and of post -literature, in essays published on the site of the well known Saatchi Gallery, London. The first concept concerns contemporary art, the latter the philosophy of culture.

Activity as a visual artist

Solo exhibitions:

”Text and Time”, September 2004, Museum of Bucovina, Suceava, Romania, (promoted by the EuroNews cultural Agenda);

”The Signs of the Time”, November 2004, The NahVision Art Gallery in Stuttgart, Germany (also promoted by the EuroNews Agenda).

”Time’s Metaphors”, February 2006, The Velea (TransArt) Art Gallery in Bacau, Romania.

”Matrioshka Identities”, February 2007, Art Gallery of the ”Stephen the Great” University, Suceava, Romania.

”The Alchemical City”, January 2009, Lascar Vorel Art Gallery of the Romanian Artists Union, Piatra Neamt, Romania (promoted by EuroNews TV channel, Rendez-vous cultural magazine).

”My Archetypal Suceava City”, April 2009, Dalype Gallery, Oslo, Norway.

”Archetypal Expressionism”, online show, April 2009, Design Gallery, University of Massachussets, USA, curated by the artist Lily Yang.

”Text and Time. The Archetypal Expressionism”, November-December 2009, Museum of Visual Art, Galati, Romania.

”Totem. In memoriam Ion Ţuculescu”, June 2010, Museum of Art, Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania; curator: Maria Bălăceanu, director of the museum.

”Selfportrait with Guardian Angel”, June 2011, Museum of Romanian Literature, Iaşi, Romania, presented by the art critics Emanuela Ilie and Valentin Ciucă.

Group exhibitions, international art projects:

International Cultural Centre, Helsinki, Finland, April 2005.

National Museum of History, Chisinau, Republic of Moldavia, June 2006.

Stanzwerk Bochum, Germany, June-July 2007, art symposium organized by European Artists Association.

Mount Beacon Fine Art Gallery, New York, January-February 2009, together with other 50 international artists, group show organized by Mirca Art Group, curator Carla Goldberg, NY.

International Art Center ”George Apostu”, Bacau, Romania, group show ”The Wineyard and the Wine”, February 2009, organized by the museum/art gallery of art brut Galerie de 4 coins, France, curated by the founder of the museum, the French artist Luis Marcel.

Marseille Project Gallery, Marseille, France, ”Spring Projection” project, March 2009, together with other 34 international artists.

TransCultural Exchange, Boston, Little Gallery New York, The International Exquisite Corps Project by Mary Corey March, April 2009, together with other 18 international artists from 12 countries.

Design Gallery, University of Massachussets, Boston Cyberarts Festival, April 2009, DSL Cyber MOCA in Second Life, ”TransForm”international project, curated by Lily&Honglei.

Opera Gallery, Budapest, May 2009, group exhibition by artists from the 27 member states of the EU.

Funil Art Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal, February 2010, 3rd Paradigm group show.

Jose de Lorenzo Gallery, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, July 2010, 3rd Paradigm group show.

Vieira Portuense Gallery, Oporto, Portugal, October 2010, 3rd Paradigm group show.

Rearte Gallery, Vienna, Austria, October 2011, Privatsphären (Private Spheres, group show together with the other members of 3rd Paradigm art group and the international artists Frank Ettenberg and Gerti Hopf.The show was presented by Elisabeth Ledersberger-Lehoczky, the vicepresident of Austrian Art Association and president of the Sculpture department and was featured by the well-known art magazine IT’S LIQUID.

”Constantin Severin & the Archetypal Expressionism”, talk-show, PLUS TV, Suceava, Romania, October 2009.

UNESCO Ambassador of eurointegration through art. Excellence Award offered by the City Hall of Drobeta Turnu Severin City and of County Council of Mededinţi, Romania. Works published by ”Freedom & art”, Art book Project-Mirca Art Group-Skogas, Sweden (An Art Happening), 2008;Art book printed by the Museum of Art from Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania and art catalogue made by the Museum of Visual Art, Galati, Romania. Included on ”The illustrated dictionnary of beaux arts in Moldova-1800 to 2010”, published by the art critic Valentin Ciucă, Art XXI publishing house, Iaşi, 2011. Included through a selection made by 5 international art curators on the art book ”International Contemporary Artists”, ICA Publishing, New York, 2011, by Eve Lemonidou (art critic, art collector and curator) and Olga Antoniadou (art historian and curator). Included by the American visual artist and curator, Harriette Lawler, on the artbook Privatsphären (Private Spheres), in 2011.
Honorary citizen of his birthtown, Baia de Aramă, Mehedinţi, Romania, in May 2011.
Artworks in public (The Museum of Art and History Suceava, Romania, The Museum of Art Piatra Neamt, Romania and The Museum of Art Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania) and private collections from Romania, Germany, USA, Finland, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Ukraine, Italy, Great Britain, etc.

Activity as a writer

Works:

‘’The Sunday of Things Real” (poetry), Junimea Publishing House, Iasi, Romania, 1984;

”Wall and Neutrino” (poetry, bilingual edition-Romanian/English, translated by Liviu Martinescu), Vlasie Publishing House, Pitesti, Romania, 1994; the poem was included as such in the anthology of ”Contemporary Romanian Poetry” by Marin Mincu, Pontica Publishing House, 2000, also in the anthology ”Dialogue Through Poetry” by Ram Devineni, Rattapallax Press, New York, 2003, and some fragments in the antology ‘’Gefährliche Serpentinen. Rumänische Lyrik der Gegenwart, mit einem Nachwort ‘’ by Dieter Schlesack, Edition Drukhaus, Berlin 1998; the poem won The Bucovina Cultural Foundation Awards;

”Wall and Neutrino. The Poet in New York”, Minerva Publishing House, London, 1997; English version by Liviu Martinescu;

”Improvisations on armonic key” (poetry), Axa Publishing House, Botosani, Romania, 1998;

”The Axolotl” (poetry), Masina de Scris Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998; the first renga (renku) book in the Romanian literature, bilingual edition-Romanian/English, translation by Liviu Martinescu; some of his renga poems translated into Spanish by Joaquin Garrigos have been published by ‘’Cuadernos del Ateneo’’, 2005, in a special issue dedicated to the Romanian literature; book awarded by the Bucovina Cultural Foundation, 1999;

”The Alchemical City” (selected poems), Dacia Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2002; awarded by the Bucovina Cultural Foundation, 2003;

”The Sacred Empire. Monasteries and churches in Northern Moldavia”(essays), Paralela 45 Publishing House, Pitesti, Romania, 2003.

”Esto’s Lover” (novel), Curtea Veche Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania, 2010. The novel won the Romanian Writers Union-Bacau Association Award, 2011.

”Improvisations on armonic key” (poetry, Opera Omnia), Tipo Moldova publishing house, Iasi, 2011.

His poems have been published by major Romanian, Spanish, American, British, Japanese and Belgian literary magazines.

Awards

The haiku poetry award offered by Daily Yomiuri newspaper, Japan,1996. The award for cultural journalism given by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, 1998. The award for cultural journalism given by the City Hall and the County Council of Suceava, 2001. Naji Naaman Honorary Award for the whole activity, Lebanon, 2010. Honorary member of Maison Naaman pour la Culture. His poem Improvisations on armonic key was nominated for Pushcart Prize. His poems have been selected by the Spanish editor, writer and visual artist Fernando Sabido Sánchez for his unique online anthology of poetry, ANTOLOGÍA POESÍA UNIVERSAL and by the literary experts from The East Tennessee State University, USA for the famous Best Poems Encyclopedia. Premio Internazionale “Messina Città d’Arte” 2011, Messina, Italy, for the English version of the poem ”The Alchemical City”.
Press File 2004, after the debut solo show(fragments) Keeping true to the idiosyncratic attribute of his astrological sign, that of restless seekers of truth and creators of new ideas, the friend Constantin contemplated during many sleepless nights a new concept in plastic art that would justly recognize the ancestral symbols, cultural archetypes specific to the sites of Cucuteni, Gumelnita and Hamangia that, he felt, had been insufficiently appreciated. He named this concept archetypal expressionism (Tiberiu Cosovan Constantin Severin Un revolutionar cu revelatii, Monitorul de Suceava, 10.08.2004, issue 186) The poet and publicist Constantin Severin is experiencing a new spiritual challenge: his dbut in painting. Four years ago, in his art chronicles dedicated to George Cotos and Ovidiu Maitec, he introduced a new concept in contemporary art, the archetypal expressionism. In brief, his view of this movement combines the strong colors of the German expressionism with the ancient archetypes (universal symbols) of sites such as Cucuteni, Hamangia and Gumelnita. (Camelia Berbinschi Primele vernisaje de expresionism arhetipal, la Suceava si Stuttgart, Cronica Sucevei, 5.08.2004, issue 3) The archetypal expressionism, a new concept in contemporary art introduced by Constantin Severin, represents a synthesis between the ancient archetypes (in this case those from the sites of Cucuteni, Hamangia and Gumelnita) and the strong, lively colors of the German expressionism. In Text si Timp, Constantin Severin introduces to the viewers an archetypal universe where there is no time, only a virtual germ of time. One of the most representative poets of the 80s, Constantin Severin creates paintings which bear the mark of the mental and employ universal symbols. His plastic adventure transcends the postmodern evasions and becomes a means of self-awareness, of acquiring world knowledge through knowledge of the self. () Severins art can be regarded as the nostalgia of rediscovering the primordial shapes. (). (Ovidiu Vintila Constantin Severin sau melancolia regasirii formelor originare, Cronica Sucevei, 15.09.2004, issue 36) Constantin Severins original approach to plastic expression attracted the interest of the EuroNews TV channel. () It is a privilege for the city of Suceava as well as an opportunity to gain international recognition through a cultural event. Moreover, by courtesy of the artist, the archetypal expressionism receives a well-deserved recognition in contemporary art, an acknowledgement that Constantin Severin can take great pride in (). (Tiberiu Cosovan For three days EuroNews will include in their agenda coverage of Constantin Severins first painting exhibition in Suceava, Monitorul de Suceava, 15.09.2004) EuroNews announced their coverage between the 17th and the 19th of September of a Romanian painter from Suceava. (Sergiu Rusu Artist sucevean expus la EuroNews, Evenimentul Zilei, 16.09.2004, issue 3856) After having dedicated a substantial part of his life to the world of books, Constantin Severin takes up a new challenge and calls for the strong colors of the German expressionism to bring homage to the primordial archetypes of the Cucuteni, Hamangia and Gumelnita sites. It is this new approach that affirms his declared condition of artist, founder, theoretician and practitioner of archetypal expressionism. (Doina Cernica Constantin Severin, asemenea lui Marin Sorescu, Crai Nou, 16.09.2004, issue 3751) Constantin Severin sets the ground for the archetypal expressionism, a new avant-garde movement, well-received by the European public. The exhibition, whose title Text si Timp arrests the viewers attention, was introduced to the public in Suceava by the painter Ilie Boca (winner of the Plastic Artists Union 2003 Award), the art critic Valentin Ciuca (member of the International Art Critics Association) and Emil Ursu, Director of the Directorate of Culture and Cults (). (Isabel Bedreaga Text si timp, pe simezele sucevene,, Cronica Sucevei, 18.09.2004, issue 38) Upon private viewing on Friday, September 17th, 2004, Constantin Severins painting exhibition, open at the History Museum in Suceava, enjoyed a large first-class audience (of which the plastic artists outnumbered the writers). The exhibition had both a national resound owing to the art critic Valentin Ciuca who mentioned it in Alex Stefanescus TV show (which offers its viewers one cubic meter of culture) and an international impact by being on the EuroNews cultural agenda(). (Doina Cernica Un pictor si o pictura altfel, Crai Nou, 21.09.2004, issue 3754) I feel compelled to emphasize that, by putting his name on the gallery panels, the artist unveils another of his creative sides and at the same time diligently endeavors to and succeeds in introducing a new artistic concept that he named archetypal expressionism (being already received by the European public as a result of the interest shown by Wolfgang Spindler from EuroNews who replied to the artists Internet messages that he would include shots from the exhibition in the agenda of major European cultural events) (). (Tiberiu Cosovan Amprentele culturale ale unor civilizatii ancestrale, Monitorul de Suceava, 25.09.2004, issue 226) Constantin Severins culturality makes up, to a great extent, for the lack of a guiding master and training hours in a painting workshop. () His declared cultural appetite allows him to plunge into the past in search of a modern approach. The spring of remote history nourishes the thirsty vessels of his imagination, and the archeologist digs deep into the cultural memory from where he extracts sacred symbols, materialized in ritual and household objects, in elements specific to rituals of a remote pre-Christian past (). The painter Severin embraces these ancient symbols and adapts them to new graphic-chromatic contexts. He examines different materials and gives them a durable appearance (). (Valentin Ciuca Prezentul arhaitatii, Crai Nou, 2.10.2004, issue 3763 The plastic artist, recently welcome into the artistic world, sets up a trend that is still open to enthusiasts sharing the same interests as the pioneer himself in the archetypal expressionism, a movement that lies between the figure realism and the abstract art. (C.Coroiu Pictor sucevean pe agenda culturala a EuroNews, Adevarul, 27.09.2004, issue 4428) , … Read More