A single sentence would suffice to provide a key to Flaviu Cacoveanu’s exhibition, on view at the Parliament Gallery in Paris. A sentence that expresses with simple yet powerful clarity the concept that underpins all his works on display: “What you observe can mean many things, but what really matters is what they mean to you”. This is how Conceptual Play presents itself, an exhibition that plays with the elements of everyday life, continually interrogating the observer, prompting reflection on the reality around them and on life itself.

Flaviu Cacoveanu, “Untitled”, 2026, gelatin silver print on baryta paper in artist’s frame with silver gilding, unique, 30 x 40 x 4 cm, courtesy Parliament Gallery

The intent to play with the meaning of elements in the poetics of Romanian artist Flaviu Cacoveanu is evident in his approach. He considers himself a “con and temporary” artist. The play on words, while harking back to contemporary art, suggests the “conceptual” meaning evoked by the first term, while the second refers to the temporality of reality, of life as well as of artistic practice. Reflecting on language and the ephemeral, he foregrounds process over the authority of the finished object. Interweaving the diverse media of language, photography, video, and ready-made objects, he creates suggestions that explore, using a profoundly intuitive process, the interaction between elements and materials drawn from everyday life and its immediate physical and mental environment.

Flaviu Cacoveanu, “Untitled (Fallen Stars)”, 2026, stencil, tape, inkjet print, spray paint, unique, 61 x 81.5 cm, courtesy Parliament Gallery

The work Untitled (Fallen Stars) clearly frames the artist’s complex, multifaceted, and layered artistic language. After scanning a series of sheets of paper taped together with spray paint, he prints the scanned image and cuts out star-shaped holes. The result is a synthesis that draws on diverse themes. The connection to the American flag is evident, as the fact that it is upside down in the work. The title, in turn, recalls the falling stars, a theme that can be associated with the historical period we are living in, but also with the positive image of the shooting star, which, by evoking the idea of ​​luck and hope, makes it difficult to decipher the work’s positive or negative essence, leaving it bivalent and ambiguous. The interpretative process is open and welcomes the observer’s suggestions without expressing a clear meaning.

Flaviu Cacoveanu, “Walking”, 2025, 4 c-print photographs in artist’s frame, unique, 29 x 84 x 3 cm, courtesy Parliament Gallery

The work Walking follows the same approach, consisting of a series of four images depicting the artist’s shadow on the street. These photographs were taken by the artist himself, capturing scenes depicting elements of simple, often unnoticed, everyday life. The focus on these elements is even more suggestive due to the fact that the images are framed, leaving enough space for another to fit. This absence is so evident that it seems to have been created specifically to arouse curiosity, attract, and incite reflection. The space the frame leaves for interpretation is an essential part of the work, as the lack of explanation of the works for the exhibition. The dialogic nature of the work with the viewer is even more evident in two homonymous works, Untitled, in which a phrase in the first (“close your eyes”) and a single word in the second (“dream”) are printed on a medium that makes reading and deciphering the message difficult.

Flaviu Cacoveanu, “Sun Moon Light (1)”, 2026, dye- sublimation print on textile placed on the floor, unique, 250 x 186 cm, courtesy Parliament Gallery

These two works, while remaining emblematic, require actions that further emphasize reflection on the works themselves, creating a dialogue that, in the case of Sun Moon Light, also extends to the exhibition language. This work, in fact, consists of three large prints fixed to the floor which, with very vivid and luminous colors, address this theme by exhibiting three types of lighting: solar, lunar, and artificial. These large, powerful, and disruptive images are uprooted from the artist’s daily life during his travels. A work that approaches things differently is Water vs. water. In this case, an image depicting a plastic bottle resting on an overturned trash can is printed on an incredibly glossy surface that makes it impossible to read. The disturbance created by the support merges with the subject, a subject that is also liquid and elusive, in turn reflecting the light of the atmosphere portrayed. The reading becomes even deeper when observing the contrast that the rainwater deposited on the shelf, free and relaxed, creates with the constrained and encapsulated water inside the plastic bottle. The industrial aesthetic of the plastic bottle and its logo disrupts the surrounding meditative environment, which, amplified by the support, interacts directly with the viewer.

Flaviu Cacoveanu, “Water vs water”, 2026, c-print, unique, 120 x 90 cm, courtesy Parliament Gallery

These are just some of the works featured in the Conceptual Play exhibition, showcasing a collection of layered, complex, and not entirely decipherable works, yet capable of interacting in a generative and powerful way with the viewer, creating suggestions that raise questions rather than provide answers. The works on display highlight the most overlooked areas of life, reminding viewers that the simple details of everyday life are never banal but, instead, capable of encompassing universes.

Info:

Flaviu Cacoveanu. Conceptual Play
14/03/2026 – 11/04/2026
Parliament gallery
5 Rue des Haudriettes, Parigi
www.parliamentgallery.com

Samuel Tonelli

Always connected to the art world, Samuel Tonelli attended the course in Art Education and Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and furthered his studies with the two-year master’s program in Education and Cultural Mediation of Artistic Heritage. After gaining experience mediating in various exhibitions and teaching art history at the art high school in Bologna, he developed a passion for art writing, which he sees as a powerful means of expression capable of opening up visions, broadening horizons and enriching the understanding of diverse perspectives on reality.