Configuration 1988

Editor: Here we have Romul Nutiu's "Configuration" from 1988, rendered in acrylic. The blue background really sets off the furious, chaotic lines – it feels almost like looking at the exposed nerves of a raw emotion. What do you make of this work? Curator: It strikes me as a furious, internal landscape. A territory not of geography, but of the mind. You mentioned the exposed nerves; I think of a tangled undergrowth, bursting with raw energy, fighting for space. Almost as if Nutiu is wrestling with his own thoughts and feelings, externalizing this struggle for us to witness. Does it feel claustrophobic to you, or liberating in its expression? Editor: I definitely see the claustrophobia, but the vibrant colours hint at liberation. So much tension! Do you think there’s any influence of Abstract Expressionism in his work? Curator: Absolutely, especially that visceral, spontaneous gesture, that desire to access and record the subconscious… reminiscent of Pollock’s drips, perhaps? Though, Nutiu seems less about the accident, more about channeling raw, intentional energy through each frenetic line. But tell me, do you find any specific form emerging from this supposed chaos? Editor: I can make out the suggestion of a figure, almost ghostly, struggling amidst the lines. Or perhaps I’m just trying to make sense of it all. Curator: Isn't that the beauty of abstraction? It’s a mirror. Nutiu gives us the vocabulary, but we supply the story, pulled from our own experiences, fears, and hopes. It’s less about what Nutiu intended and more about what the work awakens in you, standing right here, right now. Editor: It is kind of like staring into the void. I think I came in with a preconception about abstract art but now understand that the chaos on the surface can evoke emotions as intense as anything representational. Curator: Precisely! And remember, even chaos has its own inherent order, a secret language waiting to be deciphered. Or, perhaps, felt.