Ionel Talpazan

What is sure is that his admirable, colorful creations, the ensemble of which constitutes a veritable inter-galactic space station, project us into the unique universe of this man who, as a child, saw an “extraterrestrial” blue light, the source of his work.

Ionel had a turbulent childhood: born in 1955 near Bucharest (Romania), he lost his twin brother shortly after their birth. His parents, at odds with each other, left him with his grandfather before he was sent, at the age of six, to a foster family whose mother turned out to be a violent alcoholic. At the age of eight, while hiding in the bushes after escaping from the house, he saw the strange blue light moving without a sound: four years later, he drew his first UFO.

As an adult, he fled his country by swimming across the Danube; recognized as a political refugee, he established himself in New York. From then on, Ionel dedicated himself to his creation, his apartment barely large enough to store his impressive production. 

His work, shown in multiple galleries in the United States and at the exhibition Chalet Society - The Museum of Everything, boulevard Raspail in Paris in 2012-2013, is part of several major collections of art brut.