The World Ion Barladeanu Saw

Take the story of Ion Barladeanu, a Romanian artist who has tasted some sort of fame after years of living homeless in a dump. He’s suddenly touring art galleries, meeting Angelina Jolie, doing the newspaper rounds. The world’s listening. Loved on Facebook and by HBO, Ion Barladeanu finally has an audience. It is quite the fairytale. Or maybe it’s not that simple.

A new article in Evenimentul Zilei seems to suggest that Barladeanu is hardly a rich man even after all the glory. Accusations are flying around surrounding this man, his art and lack of money. Perhaps the world that Barladeanu encountered was not as kind and as appreciative as first appeared.

The diamond in the rough sits in a flat in Bucharest and drinks. He is a simple man, devoid of contemporary mannerisms and pretensions. And here is a man who used what was around to create. Bits of old newspapers cut up to create something new. Propaganda re-edited with vision. One can only wonder at the new works he has in store for us, iPhones, Facebook, 21st century junk, celebrities, owners, appreciative faces and credit cards.

Bogdan Tiganov