Photos by Ioana Marinescu
The exhibition of architect and photographer Ioana Marinescu presents a series of photographs that document her grandparents' town of Campulung Muscel, Romania, where over ground gas pipes were installed and painted yellow at the end of the 90's.
The arrival of the yellow presence in the town reminded the artist of Friedrich Durrenmatt's play The Visit, which takes place in a small town 'somewhere in Central Europe'. In the play, an elderly lady returns to her hometown after a long absence to find that it has flourished and, most strikingly, that everyone has taken to wearing yellow shoes as a sign of prosperity. On arriving in Campulung, Marinescu was impressed by a sense of absurdity given by "a whole system of yellow pipes and boxes that has invaded the calm appearance of the old streets". Moreover, as if infected with a disease, soon most of the street furniture was painted in yellow, gradually altering the visual identity of the town.
The Gas Pipes photographs are part of Marinescu's research about memory and identity in post-communist Romania.
Ioana Marinescu studied architecture in Bucharest, Nottingham and London. She is currently based in London, working as an independent architectural designer and photographer.
Architectural Association School of Architecture
36 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3ES
