The Gate 1992

I’m standing in front of Geta Bratescu’s ‘The Gate’, which looks like it was made with paper and glue. I can imagine her in the studio carefully pasting down these little shapes, each a slightly different shade of white and pink, enclosed in these tiny rectangles like a miniature brick wall. I love the electric blue frame, it’s so bold and makes the whole thing pop. It's like she's inviting us to step through into a world of pure color and form, but also holding us back with that grid. What was she thinking when she made it? Maybe she was thinking about doorways, portals, and the way we move through space. The shapes remind me of Matisse's cut-outs, but somehow more intimate, more personal. It’s as if she wanted to create a whole universe in this one object. I think she wanted to capture the way we experience things – not as fixed, solid objects, but as fleeting moments of color and light. And that’s the magic of painting, isn’t it?