ARCHIVING THE PAST FOR BUILDING AN IDENTITY

As he has himself acknowledged (Bercea Reference Bercea2011), Marius Bercea considers painting an archaeological process. His artworks represent visual documents that unveil the challenges faced by Romanians in the early capitalist years of the 1990s. Despite the obvious influence of his childhood in 1980s communist Transylvania, Bercea’s paintings transcend geographical spaces and showcase past realities encountered by most post-communist countries. His endeavour contributes to keeping the memory alive and creating an authentic societal identity.

In Truths with Multiple Masks (Figure 1), one encounters a very dense, confusing scene. Rudimentary grey buildings partially visible through a heavy fog frame disillusioned people who seem to have gone through a traumatic event. Bercea might present the first days after the 1989 Romanian revolution. Through what seems to be a juxtaposition of multiple scenes, Bercea recreates the chaos from the early capitalist days of 1990. His representation anchors the very first instants where people regained their freedom and fundamental rights. As in many of his paintings, the line between real memories and fiction is blurred. Yet the vivid emotions felt when looking at this painting reinforce Cyrulnik’s thesis that nothing is more real than fiction (Reference Cyrulnik2023, 182).

Figure 1: Marius Bercea, Truths with Multiple Masks, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 280 × 385 cm

Note. Photograph courtesy of Marius Bercea.

Despite the revolution’s success, the brutal change of regime generated psychological distress among the population. Economic problems and uncertainty about the future caused constant rumination. Within Bercea’s paintings, psychological confusion is expressed through incoherent decor, superposed images, or colour contrasts. The typical grey buildings built by Ceaușescu are a symbol of alienation in a dictatorial society that forced the rural exodus, pushing villagers to leave their traditional family houses for small apartments in big cities. The imposing building with an abnormal shape from the right side made me think of the struggle of constructing a new life in a chaotic environment. Enjoying the new liberties but fearing some continuation of the ex-regime caused cognitive dissonance and confusion. In this constant state of alert, time seems to be dilating, which Bercea illustrates very well through a static, frozen image. As shown by Levine (Reference Levine2008, 133–35), time perception differs according to environmental circumstances, making traumatic experiences feel of longer duration.

INDOLENCE AND MORAL ATROPHY FOR CURRENT ETHICAL CHALLENGES

Some of Marius Bercea’s later paintings point out ethical challenges in contemporary societies. The way individuals choose to live their lives is highly influenced by the standards of the consumerist society, which are often artificial and unachievable. More consumption is supposed to fulfil our lives, yet it seems that the opposite is happening. In a constant chase for happiness, we expect each purchase to take us a step closer to a feeling of accomplishment. However, as the after-purchase excitement does not last, one plans the next purchase right away in an effort to perpetuate the euphoria. This almost Sisyphean attempt to achieve long-lasting happiness impedes individuals from seeing and comprehending the consequences of their behaviours.

The constant preoccupation with building an ideal-looking life leaves little energy for the fundamental societal problems. Some of Bercea’s latest paintings capture a certain indifference to one’s surroundings. The lack of responsiveness to societal problems is emphasised by the use of social media platforms. Scrolling through immense amounts of information overwhelms our brains and makes it very difficult to discern truth from manipulation. In an untitled painting from 2023 (Figure 2), Bercea pictures a teenager in his bedroom staring at his phone. Through a simple representation of youth, Bercea showcases a key element in understanding the cause of indolence to societal problems. A constant use of digital platforms means a constant exposure to a circular rhetoric, as algorithms show us precisely what we are eager to see. This biased perspective affects critical thinking and moral judgement as one cannot objectively analyse a problem if one has only been exposed to a single side of the story. Bercea’s painting can suggest the importance of knowing how to choose reliable sources, as within the post-truth era, real facts can easily be distorted and given a different meaning (Harari Reference Harari2019, 214).

Figure 2: Marius Bercea, Untitled, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 60 × 70 cm

Note. Photograph courtesy of Marius Bercea.

WAITING FOR DISASTER: TIME SUSPENSION FOR CONSCIOUSNESS AWAKENING

Some of Bercea’s artworks transmit a feeling of suspense, as if the painter captures the very last instant before the unleashing of an imminent (yet predictable) event. This tense instant is brilliantly showcased in a last effort to prevent the irreparable. In Modernism and After (Figure 3), the character looks at what seems to be a city panorama from a balcony. Both the character and the city are represented in bright colours, suggesting they belong to the same world. The bright yellows, oranges, and greens of the city contrast with the deep navy of the sky that seems to herald an unknown event. Although the sky’s darkness is not (yet) reflected on the bright landscape, right at the horizon line, it looks like the navy fog begins to progressively veil the city, as if a storm were about to begin. Uncertainty is almost tactile.

Figure 3: Marius Bercea, Modernism and After, 2020, Oil on Canvas, 188 × 155 cm

Note. Photograph courtesy of Marius Bercea.

Looking at Seasonal Capital of Itinerant Crowds (Figure 4), the indistinguishable contours leave you overwhelmed and intrigued. Placed right in the middle of the scene, the red touches give the feeling of distress and imminent danger. Crowded objects are intercalated with forms of vegetation in an abnormal manner that symbolically reveals the absurdity of consumerism: continuously gathering objects is unnecessary and against nature. This can be a metaphor for describing the effects of the consumerist society: buying an excessive number of items creates a chaotic environment in which gathered items lose individual utility and contaminate their surroundings. The extreme clutter could suggest the approaching of a saturation point where compulsive shopping and the constant search for happiness through material things will turn against us. Despite the hardly discernible mix of objects and colours, we can clearly see the trees in the background, almost framing the landscape. Their prominent presence is perhaps a clin d’œil for nature’s resilience: despite the suffocating atmosphere created by the choices of humans, nature always finds a way of recovering.

Figure 4: Marius Bercea, Seasonal Capital of Itinerant Crowds, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 280 × 395 cm

Note. Photograph courtesy of Marius Bercea.

The dystopic scene from The Flame of the Little Match Girl (Figure 5) makes a courtesy to Hans Christian Andersen’s famous Danish story entitled The Little Match Girl. The painting pictures a mass of cluttered, undistinguishable objects that have been set on fire. The orange background emphasises the gravity of the situation. By naming his painting after Anderson’s fairy tale, Bercea cleverly suggests a metaphorical line of interpretation: just as the little girl who naively kept lighting match after match, individuals from consumerist societies make purchase after purchase, ignoring individual and societal consequences. Just as lighting a match seemed innocuous, especially as it heated the little girl on a cold winter day, purchasing an extra item can sometimes feel mandatory, as it satisfies a targeted need. Seduced by mesmerising images seen in the flames, the little girl eventually became the victim of her visions. Similarly, consumers choose to satisfy momentary desires through impulsive purchases without reflecting on the social consequences of their decision. Through his image of a flamelet that is slowly leading to disaster, Bercea metaphorically shows how small, individual actions can trigger societal catastrophes.

Figure 5: Marius Bercea, The Flame of the Little Match Girl, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 45 × 50 cm

Note. Photograph courtesy of Marius Bercea.

INSPIRING THE BUSINESS ETHICS COMMUNITY

Through his extraordinary paintings, Marius Bercea engages with the business ethics community by critically addressing past, present, and future societal challenges, in an attempt to transcend the aesthetic function of art. Bercea’s paintings push the boundaries of traditional ethics research by awakening our senses to more meaningful interpretations of the world around us. The contemplation of Bercea’s artworks has implications for both business ethics scholars and readers, as it can bring complementary arguments within business ethics conversations.

First, Marius Bercea’s paintings enrich the understanding of societal events among the business ethics community. Bercea’s paintings represent testimonies of one who has lived in a totalitarian society and experienced the hardship of those times. His artworks (re)create past and present realities through striking colour combinations and intriguing object juxtapositions, inviting ethics scholars to consider new interpretations of known societal events. His scenes create intense emotional experiences that might lead to a change of perspective. Engaging with Bercea’s paintings has the potential to draw new directions about classical business ethics topics (e.g., poverty, rights inequality, consumerism) by allowing meaningful interpretations of societal crises within post-communist countries.

Secondly, Bercea offers business ethics scholars the opportunity to create methodological innovations. By recreating the fading memories of early capitalist societies that struggled with poverty, rights inequality, and psychological distress, Bercea transforms his paintings into visual documents that mirror previous social realities. These paintings allow profound qualitative interpretations of social issues in a way that would not be possible through textual or numerical data. Bercea’s paintings embody remarkable sources of information that encourage the use of imagination, creativity, and critical thinking in an attempt to reveal uncovered insights into past and present crises. Engaging with Bercea’s paintings is of interest to the business ethics community, as it creates great potential for novelty. It can contribute to developing hybrid research methods and, therefore, extend the relatively limited role of qualitative studies in business ethics research (Reinecke, Arnold, and Palazzo Reference Reinecke, Arnold and Palazzo2016, xiii).

Thirdly, Bercea’s work expresses ethical challenges through culturally sensitive lenses. In light of the principle that within different cultural contexts we shall give particular responses to universal dilemmas (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner Reference Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner2012, 238), Bercea’s representations contextualise otherwise generic issues (social inequalities, alienation, citizen rights, consumerism), allowing a more profound understanding of their local causes and consequences. By combining surrealism and symbolism, Bercea builds culturally tailored interpretations of reality, indicating research gaps (e.g., business ethics challenges in Eastern Europe) and enriching debates within the business ethics community.

Consequently, Bercea’s artworks have the power to raise public awareness of current societal stakes. Sometimes, images speak louder than words. For the non-academic public, an aesthetic experience might feel much more engaging than reading a scientific paper. By generating an intense emotional response, Bercea’s paintings could, therefore, unveil key societal problems and inspire the public to take action for their community.

Finally, Bercea’s artistry has a visionary facet. By pointing out the dangers of indolence and lack of responsiveness to social issues in increasingly individualistic and digitalised societies, Bercea warns of the potentiality of a black swan-type event (Taleb Reference Taleb2008). Through his time suspension techniques, Marius Bercea acts as a whistleblower by subtly pointing out the catastrophic effects of consumerism on present and future communities. Marius Bercea’s artworks challenge the business ethics community to engage in deeper conversations about democracy, social responsibility, and critical thinking, in an attempt to prevent the irreparable.