Between May 8 and June 20, Camera Gallery in Cluj-Napoca hosted the exhibition “Degrees of Exposure” by artist Andrei Mateescu.

“Romania’s nationwide “thermal rehabilitation” program has dramatically altered urban aesthetics, prompting the artist to revisit Eastern apartment blocks, more than a decade after his Multilateral series. Focusing this time on construction sites around the blocks and their new vivid yet disjointed façades, themes such as dwelling, energy efficiency, climate change, public-private tensions or inside-outside dichotomies are approached. Using thermal imaging, (subtly manipulated) photography and lighting schemes, an emphasis on interior illuminated windows is put, still placing dwelling at the center of urban life.” (curatorial text)

Andrei Mateescu (b. 1988, București) attended the Photography and Dynamic Image department of UNArte, where he obtained his bachelor and dissertation degrees. A native of the notorious gray blocks, his concerns were formed around the delicate relationships making up contemporary urban landscape. Soon, his fascination with the limits of the photographic medium also manifested itself, early examples being given by the Multilateral, HYPER and Residential series. Currently, his practice often targets the inherent transitory character of the City, as a recipient of human dynamism. In exhibition contexts, he frequently opts for installation, finding himself in the field of extended photography.
Since 2022, he has started contributing to the development and promotion of contemporary Romanian photography through writing, curating, and creating the photographyinflux.ro platform and managing an artist-run space in Bucharest.