Oana Coșug

b. 1979

Oana Coşug lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. She studied painting at the National University of Arts in Bucharest and then she decided to continue her studies in Brussels.

In 2009 she obtained her master degree in Theory and Practice of Art at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in the Belgian capital. in 2012 she was awarded the First Prize within the International Biennial of Contemporary Drawing Namur, Belgium (ex aequo: Oana Coşug and Anya Belyat-Giunta) and was selected for CanvasCollectie/ The RTBF Collection in Bozar.

“Oana Coșug’s artworks conjure other-worldly sceneries of painful absence, longing explorations and manifestations of desire.” Cristina Stoenescu

Oana Coșug, Couple in the bubble, 2020
Oana Coșug, Many Weights, 2015

The materials employed in making the drawings are carefully chosen by the artist, from the different pigment powders to the paper surfaces unto which diffused shapes overlap into seemingly ephemeral images. The show will feature a rich selection, presented as a kaleidoscopic view of the paradoxical narrative infused into the artist’s recurrent visual characters and settings, reminiscent of William Blake’s complex mythology.

Allowing the viewer to submerge into the would-be magical realism of her drawings, we explore imageries of yearning and solitude, intertwined in lyrical transformations. Unto the background of vegetal landscapes, outreached arms and twinned bodies alternate witch roots, cage-like constructions and branches. The artist builds a story of conflict and silent despair in the midst of a continuous loop of mystery and wonder. There is no before and after in this narration, no linearity outside of the drawn contours that lead us from one page unto another and back again in a mysterious succession of events. Sometimes, silently, hidden from our sight, an elusive silhouette appears, covered in a mantle containing its whole world unfolded upon itself.

Oana Coșug takes a more intimate look within the state of mind of the artist isolated in her studio​ →
Oana Coșug takes a more intimate look within the state of mind of the artist isolated in her studio​ →
Oana Coșug, Couple, 2022
Oana Coșug, La rencontre, 2022
Oana Coșug, Feet touching, 2022

Oana Coşug  lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. She studied painting at the National University of Arts in Bucharest and then she decided to continue her studies in Brussels. In 2009 she obtained her master degree in Theory and Practice of Art at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in the Belgian capital. in 2012 she was awarded the First Prize within the International Biennial of Contemporary Drawing Namur, Belgium (ex aequo: Oana Coşug and Anya Belyat-Giunta) and was selected for CanvasCollectie/ The RTBF Collection in Bozar.

Oana Coșug had numerous group shows in Brussels (B-Gallery, Galerie Actionfields, Art’Contest, Croxhapox in Gent, Galerie d’Ys and Artitude), and Bucharest (The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Apollo, Anca Poterașu Gallery, Căminul Artei, etc.). Solo exhibitions (selection): Hidden (Rivoli Building with Artitude Gallery, 2018); Landscape (Artitude Gallery, Brussels, 2015), Drawings (ICR Tel Aviv, Israel, 2014), Paintings / Drawings (Visual Art Museum, Galaţi, 2012), Blue face (Artsenzafine Gallery, Milano, 2010), My shadow (Artsenzafine Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2008), ExPosition (Atelier 35, Bucharest). She participated in different art residencies (Destelheide, Tescani, Delta Dunării, Gent).

Solo Exhibitions

2021 Here I sit still in silence, Galeria Uj Kriterion, Miercurea Ciuc

2019 25th International Contemporary Art Fair, 24-27 October, Zürich, Switzerland

2019 Au 34 6, Linkebeek, Belgium, curated by Pierre Martens

2018 Hidden – exhibition and book presentation, Artitude Gallery at Rivoli Building, Brussels, Belgium

2018 The Simultaneous Spaces of Absence, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2017 Le casier at ERG in Brussels, Belgium

2016 Art D&D, Open studio, Brussels, Belgium

2015 Landscape, Artitude Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2014 Drawings, ICR Tel Aviv, Israel

2013 Drawings exh. Oana COSUG and Anya-Belyat GIUNTA, d’YS Gallery,B

2012 Paintings / Drawings, Visual Art Museum, Galati, Romania

2010 Blue face, painting exhibition, Artsenzafine Gallery, Milan, Italy

2008 My shadow, painting exhibition, Artsenzafine Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2008 Another city, another life, Actionfields Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2007 Drawings, B-Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2004 ExPosition, Atelier35 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2003 Painting exhibition, Simeza Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2003 Painting exhibition, Hanul cu Tei Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

1996 Painting exhibition, N.Tonitza Gallery, Barlad, Romania

Group exhibitions

2023 ARCO Contemporary Art Fair Lisbon

20232023 All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers, No Name Crative Projects, Paris, France

2023 I am in the mood to dissolve in the sky Oana Cosug & Yasmina Assbane, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest

2020 Drawing in lockdown, S.M.A.K. Belgium

2020 Virus Diary White Cuib, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

2020 A Room of One’s Own, NADA New York Gallery Open, Harlem, New York, United States

2019 In The Eye of The Storm, Anca Poterașu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2019 Disappearance, Artitude Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2018 Spin Cotton While the Moon is Bright, Anca Poterasu Gallery at Spinnerei Leipzig, Germany

2018 Kunstwedstrijd Abstracte schilderkunst, at Cultuurcentrum Zwaneeberg, Heist-op-de-Berg, Belgium

2017 From the infinite to indefinite, Rivoli Building, Brussels, Belgium

2017 Portaluri, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2017 Disparilitas, at ‘100 Gallery’, Brussels, Belgium

2017 Colonia 21, National Library in Bucharest, Romania

2016 Art D&D, Hôtel de Maitre Art Déco, Brussels, Belgium

2015 Six artistes / Six desseins, Artitude Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2012 International Biennale of Contemporary Drawings in Namur, Belgium

2012 Canvas Collectie / Collection RTBF, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium

2011 Temporary collection, exhibition organized by Frédéric Rolland at B-Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2009 Zennestraaat 17, Croxhapox Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2008 Croxhapox Gallery, Gent, Belgium

2007 Studio Gallery by Art ‘Contest, Brussels, Belgium

2005 Young Colors, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, Romania

2005 Bistrita 2005, Apollo Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2004 Assemblage Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2004 Romanian Contemporary Art, Chisinau, Moldavia

2004 Painting Symposium of Bistrita, C.Baba Gallery, Bistrita, Romania

2003 Paintings exhibition, Caminul Artei Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2003 Lascar Viorel Biennial, Piatra Neamt, Romania

2003 Bucharest Annual Art Exhibition, Artis Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2002 Hanul cu Tei Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2002 Gheorghe Patrascu Biennial, Targoviste, Romania

2002 Ion Andreescu Biennial Buzau, Romania

2001 Unifest, Bucharest University, Bucharest, Romania

2001 Accente si amprente, Apollo Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2000 Contemporary Art Show, Ceausescu Palace, Bucharest, Romania

2000 Tolerance underlined, History Museum, Bucharest, Romania

1999 Spring Accents, Apollo Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

Awards and Residencies

2003 – 2018 Artist residence Colonia 21 – Tescani, Romania

2015 – 2018 Artist in residence in Destelheide, Belgium

2014 Residence in Delta du Danube, Dunavatul de Jos, Romania

2012 Winners FIRST PRIZE of 1 // International Biennial of Contemporary Drawing Namur

2012 Belgium in ex aequo: Oana Cosug and Anya Belyat-Giunta

2012 Selected for CanvasCollectie/Collection RTBF, Wiels, Brussels, Belgium

2007 Selected for Art’Contest in Brussels, Belgium

2006 Selected and expose at B-Gallery, Centrale for Contemporary Art in Brussels, Belgium

2005 Residence Prometheus, Sf.Gheorghe, Danube Delta, Romania

2004 Residence Project Gallery Mie Lefever, Gent, Belgium

2003 The Creative Grand of the Romanian Artists Union, Bucharest, Romania

2000 A. Podoleanu Prize, Barlad, Romania

Other Exhibited Artists