Ioana Bătrânu was born in Unirea/Felvinc in 1960. Like many of her contemporaries, Bătrânu attended the Institutul de Arte Plastice ‘Nicolae Grigorescu’ (Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts – now the Universitatea Națională de Arte București) in Bucharest, graduating from the graphic arts department in 1983. Her early work consists of black and white bichromatic figurative compositions that borrow from varied sources of inspiration such as punk culture, the fashion of the 1950s and western movies.
The 1990s marked a more introspective turn for Bătrânu, fuelled by feelings of alienation and isolation. She set figures from popular media aside in favour of more personal and sometimes melancholic subjects, such as gardens, interior views and latrines: all objects and places that underline feelings and emotions which are often peripheral to everyday life and society. The tomb, specifically that of her mother, and later the cemetery, became reoccurring motifs as the artist internalised her grief, loss and need to move on. These autobiographical explorations coincided with her participation in Beyond Belief, one of the first exhibitions dedicated to art in central and eastern Europe organised by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and curated by Laura J. Hoptman.
Despite having a clear artistic identity drawn from personal experience, the critical reception to Bătrânu has generally been divided. Historically, she has been praised for being completely impervious to and uninterested in contemporary trends and their evolutions (which in Romania centred around artistic productions inspired by esoteric quests, national myths, etc.), staying true to her interest in reality and the thin frontier between subjectivity and objectivity. This has allowed her to address growing rifts in society, such as the contrasts between opulence and destitution, equality and injustice, etc. Her alienation has given her the ability to react swiftly to contemporary questions. However, some critics see in this uniqueness a form of obsolescence, anachronism and a disconnection from her direct artistic context. But Bătrânu seems to see such criticism as a fair price to pray to pursue her ideal.
Bătrânu currently lives and works in Bucharest.
