Bendana | Pinel Art Contemporain is pleased to present Iulian Bisericaru’s rst solo exhibition « Green Mirror » at the gallery.

There is an increasing interest in constructing green enclaves into the city-scape of the large European capitals. Micro- gardens, green rooftops or industrial wastelands turned into greenhouses are popping out everywhere in the urban space. But, is it enough? Or, are we missing the bigger picture of our fragile ecosystem? Iulian Bisericaru has always been captivated by the relationship between architecture and nature. As an artist, he explores the tensions arising from this dichotomic union, dreaming up the most utopian projects. During Bisericaru’s residency at the “Cité Internationale des Arts”, he had the opportunity to better witness the current ecological crisis in Paris and the solutions that the city has found in dealing with it. Indeed, he observed the numerous changes in the city’s infrastructure due to enlarging green areas. Paradoxically, he was particularly concerned by the pollution emergency call that Parisians have acknowledged again this year in July.

In his work, Iulian Bisericaru is wondering what do these mutations of the city-scape tell about a society. How is a city or a community mirrored in those choices, and how far do these re ections ripple in time? The painting series “Green Mirror” feature an in-depth introspection at the heart of the relationship that humanity wants to maintain with nature. Are we prepared for an honest analysis? – scientists are already warning us that we might be close to the breaking point – an alienated society on the verge of an ecological disaster. For the ancient Greeks, the mirror was a portal to other spaces, to other worlds, but it can also appear as a truthful re ection of our reality. Through these works, Iulian Bisericaru is using his personal experience in Paris to re ect on the contradictory dynamics upon which man builds his own environment. On one side, man forms micro-cosmos of buildings surrounded by patches of green and inter-city gardens. On the other, we progressively face the consequences of technological advancements, architectural complexity and social disquiet.

In these mirrors tinted in green, we can see both human ingenuity and alienation, both creative forces and destructive ones. The artist plays with this double-re ection, and intent to provoke a form of collective awareness and individual honesty about those contradictions. These ambivalent paintings, at the equilibrium between the arti cial and the natural, appear as an expedition in our habitat, whose construction is irrevocably intertwined with our natural environment.