Mircea Modreanu is a visual artist and creator of contexts and exhibiting opportunities for the community of local artists. After graduating from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, he followed a master’s degree at UNArte Bucharest, Graphic Department.
Since 2018, when he founded the E T A J artist-run space project, he has exhibited over 200 artists in the living room of his apartment on George Enescu Street 43. Mircea Modreanu also founded the mobile gallery Etaj on wheels.

During the pandemic, he created a YouTube channel – ETAJ TV – where he presented a series of video interviews with contemporary Romanian artists. He continued with E T A J Magazine, a magazine launched out of a desire to promote contemporary art and local artists. In 2021, he created the largest mural in Romania. He recently exhibited at AnnArt Gallery and was part of the collective exhibition “We Are Here to Stay”, organized by MNȚRplusC.

One is born an artist or becomes one? When did you feel that you were meant to be an artist? Were you guided in this direction, did you have role models in your family, or was it a personal discovery?

We become artists. In my case, I took up the art when teddy bears were usually at hand. I did not have models in my family, so I started drawing to escape from environments that troubled me. I do not know if I felt it as a calling, I drew, I went on to college, I discovered a set of techniques and mediums that I later appropriated and introduced into themes or ideas that I had, or that I have always been interested in – archeology, memory, childhood.

After graduating from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, you moved to Bucharest where you followed a master’s degree at UNArte, Graphic Department. Which of the two academic experiences influenced your artistic evolution and the development of an artistic identity more?

When I entered Cluj, I did not have any artistic notions, it was more about fumbling because I finished an industrial high school in Petroșani. Then I did training a few months before admission with Radu Călin Solovăstru, a teacher I remember fondly. Certainly, the years spent in Bucharest, when I was already more in control of my knowledge, were the ones that gave me a more coherent artistic perspective. The development of the artistic identity is not so much due to the academic experience as to the experiences lived in parallel, also connected by the faculty, and master.

How would you describe your art and how important is it to you to convey a message?

In one word? Bustle. So far I have not focused on delivering a message. I focused on self-knowledge. The message is, I think, a difficult one for the public to decipher because, in many of my works, it is only about my own experiences.

What are the stages of your creative process, from idea to final work? Do you opt for spontaneity or do you put more emphasis on research?

In the last year, I have not been able to give myself the necessary time for the unification of a series of works based on assiduous research; one of the projects that I would have liked to bring to light was (and still is) the realization of an exhibition that I thought of three years ago, focused on one of the communities of residents in the Văii Jiului area – momârlanii – which should have taken place at MNȚRplusC last fall, but I postponed it for the near future. On another note, I have a “spontaneous” project where I use my body as a key element in a performative act. In the “falling back” position I realized that I can present exhibitions, works of art, and circumstances through which I can refer to Andre Cadere, an artist who inspired me through his intrusive appearances in various spaces. So, my “creative process” consists of both spontaneity and research. But there are different levels, which you go through circumstantially, it is not one or the other, there are many and small.

When do you know you have finished an artwork? Tell us more about the whole experience until you are completely satisfied with the result.

I do not know, in some cases, I sense that it is almost finished, and in others, as was the case with the last works exhibited at Atelier030202, the sculptural objects from the “spontaneous” series with me fallen, I feel that they are finished as I move away slightly and visualize them, and they come close to the image I had in mind when I started them.

Can we consider art anything an artist does or says? What exactly makes something a work of art?

If the artist assumes whatever he does or whatever he says, yes. If he takes an action that he contextualizes and doubles it with a statement to support it, it is art. If the artist assumes that his life course is a performative act, it is also art.

You are simultaneously a visual artist and a creator of contexts and exposure opportunities for the local artist community. What are the most fascinating and challenging aspects of your day-to-day work as an artist, cultural project manager, and gallerist?

I would not say fascinating, but it is satisfying to see young artists who are supported and encouraged to go forward with the projects they are working on, and especially to see their evolution and be with them because the space I coordinate is a springboard for a responsible future.

Since 2018, when you founded the E T A J artist-run space project, you have exhibited over 200 artists in the living room of your apartment on George Enescu Street 43. What was the context in which this project took shape?

The lack of art spaces was the main reason behind the foundation of the space. Together with some artist friends, we opened a series of events in 2018, initially intended for us, precisely because we had no place to exhibit, and later other artists appeared, then more and more, and the exhibition program became much more varied. We had performances, solo shows, group exhibitions, even retrospectives, interviews, and last but not least, a magazine launch – E T A J Magazine.

Every 2 weeks you have a new artist on display. Briefly tell us how the whole process goes, from getting the funding to establishing the curatorial concept, choosing the artists, and how much you intervene in the exhibition mode.

Funding has always been personal – as I have said before among friends, I support culture with my own money. The curatorial concept is established by each artist, together with me – it is collectively curated, and regarding the way of displaying, in 99% of cases, the artists have complete freedom, I try not to intervene.

To what extent can art galleries or artist-run spaces influence the course and success of the artist on the art scene?

It depends on a case by case. Art galleries have their role in the art market and influence an artist’s career – normally they set their profile, image, share, and work to increase their visibility and the sale of their work. Artist-run spaces, and collective initiatives, lately, are also gaining ground, not at the expense of galleries, because we are still talking about a well-defined paradigm of the art world, but they are more present than ten years ago; a recent example of a national level is the indexing and documentation in a recent issue of the ARTA Magazine, whose file coordinated by Gabriela Mateescu on artist-run spaces keeps these alternative initiatives in the public eye, and internationally, the first example I can think of, as well more recently, it is documenta15, which highlighted independent artistic collectives.

How do you feel about the Romanian art scene today? How much has it evolved? Has a public interest in art increased?

It grows slowly but surely. The art scene maintains its effervescence.

Very often when entering a contemporary art gallery, the public is faced with the famous question, is this art?; Why do you think contemporary art remains a challenge for the viewer?

Because the public remains superficial and resistant to possible education in the field. It seems to me that art is a taboo subject in Romania.

In 2021, you created with your colleague, Dumitru Gurjii, the largest mural in Romania. The work, covering an area of 2500 square meters, was done with more than 120 shades of washable exterior paint and was completed in a month and a half. How demanding was this project? Would you repeat the experience?

Demanding enough, I worked from 1 degree up to 40 degrees Celsius. It was, beyond an artistic project, one of endurance. I can say that what was related to the visual part, from the drawing, and the choice of colors, to the final proposal, was only one-tenth of the whole ensemble, a fact caused by the scale of the project. In the meantime, I repeated the experience, not as big, but I painted another three blocks totaling 5400m2. This time with a team of three friends.

You are an extremely active, motivated, and present artist on the Romanian art scene. You recently had a duo show at AnnArt Gallery and got involved in the “We Are Here to Stay” project, initiated by MNȚRplusC, in which, together with five other artists, you guided immigrants from Middle Eastern countries in various artistic and collaborative work processes. More specifically, you created a mural together with a group of children and their parents on the wall of a boarding house in Predeal. What’s next? Is there something you would like to try out, but the right context has not come along yet?

More projects to come. I trust that this year there will be contexts that will allow me to experience what else comes to my mind, and if not, I will try to make them happen.