Diary I 2004

Curator: Welcome. We are looking at "Diary I" by Romul Nutiu, dating from 2004. It’s a mixed-media assemblage, combining acrylic paint with, well, all sorts of materials on the canvas. Editor: My goodness, what a riot of color and texture! It’s almost overwhelmingly joyful, or maybe even agitated. The red is so intense; it makes the painting vibrate. Is that... a jacket erupting from the canvas? Curator: Yes, the tactile quality is central here. Nutiu frequently incorporated found objects. We see elements of matter-painting and naive art combined within an expressionist framework. The personal symbolism at play connects with the work's title suggesting intimate narratives made public. Editor: Those cassettes and random little golden frames... They are like little time capsules embedded in the fiery landscape of the painting. It’s not just seeing but excavating a memory, perhaps? There’s a chaotic, almost anxious energy. Curator: Absolutely, it invites an active reading, piecing together potential stories from the artist's life. Romanian art of this period reflects the socio-political transitions following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, frequently mixing personal and collective experience. Editor: I can see that struggle, that sense of rediscovering identity amid a world in upheaval. And even with its clashing elements, there's something strangely harmonious about the composition as if this "Diary" page encapsulates a whole, however turbulent, world. Curator: I think that's insightfully observed. It demonstrates how private experiences, when transformed into art, speak to wider societal patterns and can reveal the individual within the grander historical scope. Editor: For me, I see in this piece, a little mad, maybe, but overwhelmingly passionate. A wild, joyful scream in technicolor. Thanks, Romul, for the peak inside. Curator: Indeed. Thank you for joining us and reflecting with us on Nutiu’s highly evocative composition. It prompts an awareness that art, can transcend private worlds while remaining deeply entrenched within them.