Augustin Razvan Radu
Augustin Răzvan Radu was born in 1974 in Bucharest, Romania and studied at The National University of Arts in Bucharest, where he graduated with a BA in 2014 and with a MA in 2016, both in Painting. He participated to many important exhibitions and won prestigious prizes (such as a Diploma scholarship for graduate students awarded by Unicredit Bank).
The artist works mainly in oil, but likes to experiment with different materials such as ash, dust and shellac in order to create expressive layered surfaces. His paintings are sometimes funny, most of the times ironic and sarcastic, but always surprising. Augustin Radu has a critical approach to different aspects of society especially those regarding man’s lack of authenticity rendered through different series of caricature portraits depicting corrupt priests, ”beauty queens” with a superficial outlook on life and also sleeping creepy-looking figures which may be a metaphor for the ”sleepy” consciousness of man. Through his series depicting eerie, grey, empty buildings, which still bare the traces left by bullets, the artist poses questions regarding the true significance of the 1989 Romanian Revolution in the collective memory, an event that was initially perceived as a new earned freedom. Metaphorically, the buildings and the lethargic frail human bodies are seen as cages or shells enhabited by one’s true essence which so many fear confronting or understanding. Radu’s artworks provide that very present–moment stillness which allows time for self-reflection.
