Art by the Square Meter

There is a bridge over the river Olanesti, which was lined with Plexiglas panels at a certain point

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 13.07.2021, 14:00

There is a bridge over the river Olanesti, which was lined with Plexiglas panels at a certain point. However, the light reflected in the panels, creating optical illusions, causing accidents in the area, and even pigeons got confused, crashing into them. Local authorities came to the rescue with a great idea: having them painted. This resulted in an achievement worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. Adrian Ionut Luta painted old buildings from the city of Ramnicu Valcea, depicting the rural and urban life of people of yore, displayed on the 58 panels that line the road near the boardwalk of the municipality.

Adrian Ionut Luta, who teaches fine arts at the Children’s Palace of Ramnicu Valcea, told us how the project emerged:

“City Hall told me to make a painting to beautify the area, which would also have a practical side, to reduce accidents in the area and prevent the pigeons crashing into the panels, but also promoting the history of our city. I thought I would depict old pages in the history book, painting images of all the monuments in the city, which have existed or still exist, on each of the panels. There are 58 panels in all, with a surface of over 300 sqm, as each panel has 2 meters in height and 4 in width. This is the only oil painting on Plexiglas. No one so far has ever attempted to paint on such panels, because of the risk of exfoliation and quick degradation, except I used very durable paint, which lasts for 50 years.

Convinced of the durability of the work, Adrian Ionut Luta chose as his theme historical buildings and monuments that are no longer in the city:

“In a short time now, this work will be recognized; it was supposed to be a year and a half ago, but the pandemic made that impossible. There are monuments such as the Anton Pann House. It is an urban architecture monument built in the 18th century, a county museum that houses the memorial exhibition for Anton Pann, a writer born in Bulgaria, who died in Bucharest in 1854. We also have the statue of ruler Mircea the Old, in the city square, a very old theater that no longer exists, the old postal service building, City Hall, and the statue of Alexandru Lahovari. As I teach at the Children’s Palace, I finished classes at noon, and then I would paint the panels until 10 or 11 PM. I would even paint in the bitter cold, sometimes as low a temperature as minus 10 degrees Celsius. I had gloves on, and thick clothing, but I did it out of passion. My pupils from the Children’s Palace lent a hand too. I had a deadline for the project to observe too. I met the deadline, even though the weather was bad, but I did my utmost to meet it.

The locals who use the Carol Bridge are pleased with the way in which this changed the area, and say it is an excellent idea, which the artist himself confirmed:

“Most of the people in the city are pleased with the panels, they are unique in the world. What I tried to make is an open air museum, I inserted messages on the panels when I painted, I gave each of them a name, naming the places where the monuments are or were. These panels also have phosphorescent colors in them, making them stand out at night, also shedding some light in the area. I can tell you that I loved this project, I put a lot of my heart into it, because I love what I do. I tried to achieve a sort of symbiosis between street art and studio art. Street art uses graffiti, in the studio one works with oil colors. I combined oil colors with street art, and built an outdoors museum with an education theme.

Adrian Ionut Luta told us that he walks the bridge every day, reviewing the paintings, and fixing any damage, because his paintings are sometimes scratched, or partially covered in graffiti. The artist is eagerly awaiting this project’s listing in the Guinness Book of Records.