Andra Ursuţa: Apocalypse Now and Then

The Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art presents “Apocalypse Now and Then”, a solo exhibition by Romanian artist Andra Ursuţa. On view at the Foundation’s Project Space—a former slaughterhouse on the island of Hydra marking Ursuţa’s first major show in Greece.

In “Apocalypse Now and Then”, Ursuţa draws on the visual language of archaeological museums to create faux-historic artefacts from a lost civilisation. These fragmented sculptures and studio remnants—built up and broken down with both analogue and digital tools—echo today’s anxieties while referencing ancient forms. The result is a distorted historiography where grotesque votives, scarred bronze figures, and ambiguous relics blur the lines between archaeology and fiction.

At the heart of the exhibition is Desolation Ware, a new series of lost-wax cast bronze works. These objects—part decorative, part unsettling—include a serpent-platter bursting from a bicycle helmet, a jug embedded with pre-Renaissance landscapes, and a throne-like chair evoking both comfort and torture. Verdigris patinas and distorted forms challenge myths of classical purity, confronting how historical misconceptions shape artistic legacy.

Installed across the Slaughterhouse’s interior and exterior, the exhibition reimagines the site as a fictional museum. Rather than portraying a single collapse, “Apocalypse Now and Then” explores the recurring fantasy of endings—an echo of ancient fears and contemporary myth-making.