IOANA BATRANU

Ioana Batranu’s painted interior spaces executed in a neo-expressionist style, emanate intense warmth at one moment and repulsive coldness at another. Not only through the absence of human characters do Batranu’s interiors evoke a palpable sense of existential emptiness, making human existence within their environment almost impossible. Yet beyond visible abandonment, there exists the subtle suggestion of a mysterious presence waiting to be discovered.For Ioana Batranu, her perception of reality represents the crucial impetus for her painting. The artist, who turned away from contemporary currents since her debut in the 1980s, reflects in her paintings only what she experiences, feels, and is challenged by in life. Melancholy and alienation appear as internalized experiences. The recurring themes — Melancholic Interiors, Enclosed Gardens, and Latrines — coalesce into an image of her personal concern: the search for the point where the break with the world and the attempt to make peace with it are simultaneous in her existence.

Selected recent exhibitions include: One Eye Laughing, the Other Crying. Art From Romania. Ovidiu Șandor Collection, The International Cultural Centre, Krakow (2025); autoportret, Plan B, Berlin (2024); Dupa doisprezece ani. Productia artistica din Romania in 180 de lucrari. Expozitia Achizitiilor de Opere de Arta, MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (2020); Because in our dreams we took risks, Art Encounters Foundation, Timisoara (2019); DOUBLE HEADS MATCHES. A selection of contemporary artworksfromfour Romanianprivate__collections, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest (2018); ArtEncountersBiennale**–**Life__A User’s Manual, Timișoara (2017); Margins, Plan B, Berlin (2013, solo); Scènes Roumaines, Espace culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris (2013); Romanian Cultural Resolution, Spinnerei, Leipzig / Club Electroputere, Craiova (2010).

Courtesy Galeria Plan B