The Street 2010

Romul Nutiu made this painting, called 'The Street', with paint and I'm guessing a brush, but maybe also a rag or his fingers? The first thing you notice is the red. It’s everywhere, like the whole world is on fire or maybe just intensely alive. The other colors—blacks, whites, greens, and oranges—they're not shy either; they're right there, wrestling for attention. I love how the paint is applied, thick in some spots, thin in others, like he was building up a surface, a real, physical thing. Then, you see these marks, these gestures, that zigzag like lightning. They cut through the red, creating a whole bunch of different pathways. It's as if Nutiu is saying, “Here's a world, come wander through it.” This reminds me a little of Karel Appel. Nutiu is asking us to engage, to not just look but to feel, to sense, to get lost in the sheer joy and messiness of paint. It's less about knowing and more about experiencing.