WIN Gallery: You are an tireless collector of fragments of Romanian tradition that you render, like in a timeless capsule, on canvas. From leaves and old medicinal plants to glimpses of nature untouched by modern technology. How do you perceive the Romanian village through the lens of your paintings? 

Marcel Lupșe: I spent my childhood in Valea Bârgăului, my mother’s birthplace, with frequent visits to Țara Chioarului, in Buciumi, where my father comes from.

I came into contact with a fabulous universe, preserved by my grandparents as well, an entire architecture of village life – stone, wood, grass, wheat, cloth – which remained imprinted on my retina and in my soul, and which I try to recover and pass on through my works. The bundle of wheat arranged in a wreath, the handwoven towel, the kerchief, the wall cloth reflecting the flowers of the field, the shirt, the carved wooden or stone pillar, the mace of wheat or healing flowers form an ancient world, a stylistic matrix that defines us, preserved until today, and which is now slowly fading, disappearing.

My effort to recover these symbolically ancient values has become a constant concern for almost half a century, a true cultural challenge. 

WIN Gallery: Many artists address current social themes. In the tense times we live in, your approach becomes a guide for the person thirsty for authenticity. How does social reality refl ect in your paintings?

Marcel Lupșe: Every era, every society is defi ned by a collection of spiritual, cultural, and material values that contribute to its development and differentiate it from others. The ancestral agrarian universe, essential to the Romanian space until the mid-20th century, created an imagistic, magical, mystical halo in the interval between two worlds, the real and the imaginary, with multiple cultural meanings. In this space I found fertile ground for my iconographic explorations. I have always sought to express the symbolic value of surrounding reality. I prefer the refl ective passage rather than manifest activism.

WIN Gallery: What steps do you follow when you begin a new painting?

Marcel Lupșe: I believe there is no recipe for this, but technically speaking, there are stages through which the canvas, the work in general, must pass in the painting process, from sketch to the fi nished stage. The idea you want to transpose onto the canvas also undergoes transformations while working, so even here I cannot say there is a rule. The creative process is fl exible and unrepeatable from one work to another, from one theme to another. You never fall into routine.

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD - acrylic / canvas, 120 x 100 cm, 2024

WIN Gallery: Where do you fi nd inspiration today for your current activity – closely linked to the city of Bistrița – and how do you reconnect to the times when people listened closely to the voice of nature and the unspoken whisper of the earth?

Marcel Lupșe: Over the years I have studied “Hortus conclusus,” the monastery gardens where monks cultivated healing herbs. Medieval Bistrița had a long-standing tradition in this fi eld, its town physicians being renowned at the time. The fi rst hospital (bolniță) is documented around 1295.
From my point of view, moderation, wisdom, richness of thought, and communion with nature were qualities of people in those times, and they are ideals I wish I encountered more often among contemporaries.
I have noticed in the last decade a consistent increase in the number of artists who explore this universe through diverse visions and techniques.

WIN Gallery: You have an extensive exhibition activity, both in Romania and abroad. How is your work perceived outside the country, and what is your wish regarding the public in Romania?

Marcel Lupșe: Judging by the number of works found in public and private collections abroad, I believe the perception is very good. It is yet another sign that the language of art is universal and that the themes I address are relevant everywhere.
As for the Romanian public, I believe it is educated, interested, and demanding. We must offer more engaging exhibitions. Cultural activity must be of high quality, and the public will continue to grow in this spirit.

WIN Gallery: You are a tireless advocate for formal art education in Romania and one of the few contemporary artists who founded and supported an art high school – the Corneliu Baba Art High School in Bistrița. What does vocational education mean in Romania today?

Marcel Lupșe: Yes, I consider one of my most important achievements in my over forty-year didactic career the founding, 31 years ago, together with several professors and colleagues, of the Corneliu Baba Art High School in Bistrița, which has grown and continues its activity as an educational institution with notable results. Many of our former students are now teachers here and continue to educate new generations in the spirit of goodness, beauty, and truth.
I have always believed that a vocational school with a well-structured training program, supported by the necessary means, is a crucible where talented young people can be formed. Unfortunately, I have noticed that the focus is not placed on this area and that interest in this fi eld is decreasing. A great pity.

WIN Gallery: How do you view the new generation of artists? What are their references, and what do they bring new to contemporary art?

Marcel Lupșe: With confi dence and hope. I do not give advice, but I see they are not supported enough. This is also refl ected in the representation of Romania abroad. At major events we send one or two artists, not very young, while the rest… wait for better times. This may cost us later. The solution would be a coherent national cultural policy, long-term, funded by the state.

WIN Gallery: How do you relate to a new exhibition space, such as WIN Gallery, and what are the essential elements for an artist in an art gallery?

Marcel Lupșe: The encounter with a new exhibition space is both emotional and stimulating. New relationships are created between the works and the space, an interaction that must be sought. Every gallery has its personality, its aura, which it lends to the exhibition. In turn, the exhibition gains a different expressiveness as a whole. Then, the meeting with the gallery’s public, the publicity surrounding the exhibition, the promotion of the artist and the work, and the vernissage itself are all facets of the event.
WIN Gallery already has a well-deserved reputation, and I am honored that it hosts the exhibition in its impressive spaces.
Many thanks to the hosts!