Lucian Popăilă (b. 1991) lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where he studied painting at the University of Art and Design. His works have been exhibited in various public and private spaces, such as Sector 1 Gallery, Biju Gallery, Minerva Gallery, and Galeria Casa Matei in Cluj-Napoca, Palatele Brâncovenești in Mogoșoaia, and Doris Ghetta Gallery in Orisei, South Tirol.

The objects found in the works of artist Lucian Popăilă become pretexts for the exploration of pictoriality, a recurrent concern in his artistic practice. These objects, in this case two twigs with thorns, are elevated through a search for visual archetypes, thus acquiring a new status within the image. The fresco technique, used in this work and one with which the artist shows a constant fascination, permits only a very short working time, an aspect embraced and enhanced in the development of a personal visual language.

(Teodora Ungurean)