Julien Delagrange: Before we discuss your artistic journey, congratulations on your first solo presentation at Arsmonitor in Bucharest. Can you please expand on the exhibition, its title, and concept?
Radu Pandele: Thank you, Julien! It's my first solo show at Arsmonitor, so we naturally felt that it was time for a small retrospective-to properly introduce the public to my painting. Silviu Pădurariu, the curator of the exhibition, selected very specific works from the last 8 years. Most of them were chosen for the autobiographical, almost "useless" subjectivity they illustrate-but mostly for their technical aspects. Painting will always be about painting itself: about certain decisions made during the process, about giving up control, about the infinity of possible consequences-not so much about what it depicts. The title is an inside joke; it might not have anything to do with the selection, but it rhymes with each individual work.
JD: Given the tremendously versatile nature of your practice, is there a particular facet you felt was essential to bring forward in this show?
RP: My last solo shows were with galleries that gave me full responsibility to present a conceptual project.
This exhibition is the first time I've ever given complete control to the curator. Silviu is a curator I've discussed with constantly over the last 12 years, and whom I trust. It's an exercise we both felt we needed.
JD: Are there any key works that function as the cornerstones of the exhibition? And, if yes, could you please tell us more about them? What works are your personal highlights?
RP: The first painting that visitors see when entering the gallery is called Cherry Tree. It is maybe a metaphor for my entire existence. In my childhood, we had a dying tree in our yard that was neglected for years, and somehow, miraculously, it sprouted a new little branch that turned into a thriving crown over time and grew improbable fruits. I replaced these with symbolic sculptures, spreaded as a pattern. (...)
