If he resided in a hypothetical contemporary Olympus, he would likely play the role of Hermes – a traveler between worlds, a confidant of gods of all sorts, and a connector for sensitive mortals with Inspiration in its most unexpected forms. His spirit fluidly transgresses communities, borders, micro and macro cultures, styles, and trends – without judgment, just an exploratory mindset and a lot of explosive joy, translated into the most surprising materials, shapes, and colors. Bangkok, Las Vegas, Seattle or Rabat murals, Iranian tapestry, luxury cars, Romanian folk or the Hip Hop bling, Le Douanier, Matisse or Grayson Perry have all entered his inner laboratory and found an unexpected twist through his filter.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s enjoy the presence of Saddo, a Romanian-born artist from Medias, a visual anthropologist, and a global citizen of the kind we need more of.

WHAT WOULD MAKE YOUR SOUL SING? WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

Right now, being with Eva, my girlfriend and Umi, our dog, in Lisbon or Ericeira, crammed in a small apartment, smelling the jacaranda flowers, hearing the sound of the ocean or of people getting drunk.

A CHILDHOOD STORY THAT ANNOUNCED THE CREATIVE PERSON YOU ARE TODAY

Lol, I have just the right one, featuring a picture of my grandparents at a wedding and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There was a box of family photos and for some reason amongst them there were some pictures of bodybuilders, I don’t remember if it was Arnold, but let’s say it was. And I felt creative and took a scissors, cut out both my grandpa and Arnold’s heads, and switched them, and I was super proud to present my grandpa with a picture of him with Arnold muscles. He did not appreciate the fact that I ruined his GOOD wedding photo and chased me all around the house to punish my creativity.

BEST CONTEXT EVER FOR INSPIRATION WAS

I don’t think there was just one, there were many, when I was a kid in Sovata with my parents and brother, that moment stuck in my mind, I had a notebook, was listening to Romanian 90s rock music, and had lots of time to just play around with drawing. Also when I was a kid with my then friend Robert, who studied art in high-school, we were watching lots of sci-fi and horror and drawing everywhere, on jeans, t-shirts, walls. Also in Cluj after I finished university and met my Playground friends and were drawing together often and doing street art, getting chased by the police at night.

Also my time living in Berlin, surrounded by art, graffiti, the now defunct / gentrified Tacheles, experimenting with colors, shapes. And also the latest years when I discovered hip-hop and immersed myself in hip-hop culture, brand names, bling, luxury cars, which resulted in my two FANBOY shows with Mobius.

THE PROJECT YOU LOVED MOST

I don’t know if there was one, there are many, I hate to say that I’m always a little dissatisfied with my work, so probably in the moment I didn’t fully love any of them, but looking back there are projects that I love, either the way they look or how much I got paid, or the place or moment in time when I worked on it.

I love my “Rise of The Bird People” series, I had recently moved to Lisbon, everything was new and inspiring, and I had a lot of time, patience and mind space to work on lots of details, scenes with characters, birds. I also love my Las Vegas mural because it came as such a surprise, I was in the airport getting back from another mural project, in Seattle, and I got a message of invitation to paint a mural in Vegas, from Just Kids, a group of mural art curators and producers, whom I dreamed of working with. So I went and painted this mural, I went to my first music festival and saw The Weeknd, Tyler, Denzel Curry, Travis Scott and many other artists I love.

THE PROJECT OTHERS LOVED MOST

It’s weird, sometimes the ones people love most are not the ones I love most. I don’t really remember, but maybe from the recent projects my collaboration collection with BSTN, my collection with my friends from Ograda, I think these were some of the most loved by others, and also by me. I love working with a nice creative team of people who know what they’re doing.

THE BEST THING ABOUT LOCAL CREATIVITY IS

Collaborating, knowing lots of people with different skills, getting the chance to work with other artists, manufacturers, having a sense of belonging and feeling of security, and that not everything is an individual’s responsibility. Here are some examples: my collaborations on tapestry with Șnur and Arta la Sat in Romania and Textiel Lab in The Netherlands or the ceramics collection made in collaboration with Sedimento Studio from Lisbon and De Ceramică in Bucharest, and my sculpture collabs with Adi Piorescu.

BEST PLACE IN BUCHAREST

Lately I like hanging out with friends and sausage dogs, eating mici and oysters at Obor Amor, having drinks and listening to music at Mugshot, and having dinners at Bucătăria. Local Food.

BEST PLACE IN ROMANIA

I don’t know, somewhere in the forests, maybe near Brașov, Amfiteatrul Transilvania was very cool and scenic, but I haven’t really traveled that much and I don’t really have a very clear best place.

MOST DISTURBING CLICHÉ ABOUT ROMANIA, IN THE MEDIA OUTLETS OF THE WORLD IS

I’d rather not perpetuate them any further, I hate generalizing, and I’m sure most smart people do too, or at least they try not to generalize too much about categories of people, or nations or whatever, so I try not to be extremely bothered personally by any cliché or misconception about the country I live in.

ROMANIA SHOULD BE KNOWN FOR

For the art and illustration and graphic design scene, for great scenery and hikes, for specialty coffee, for cool architecture and interior design, for overlooked monumental communist mosaics, for folk art.

YOUR VIEWS ON SPIRITUALITY

I don’t really have views on spirituality, I don’t believe in any divinity, but I do like religion and myths from an aesthetic or cultural view point, and I also believe in human connection, in creativity, in meaningful experiences and relationships.

YOUR VIEWS ON MONEY

Unfortunately, I think too much about money lately and I don’t know if it’s super healthy. I do like having money for the sense of security it sometimes offers me, and as a means to get to goals like developing my art and applying it to different mediums, traveling, having the freedom to do what I love, being able to sometimes donate to different causes. I feel I’m not a person who’s very good with money, so maybe that makes me sometime overthink about money and how to be very careful about making and saving them and using them in meaningful ways.

AN INSPIRATION SOURCE YOU RECOMMEND FOR A YOUNG CREATIVE

I would recommend not a book, movie or destination, but lots of books, movies, destinations, artists, galleries, museums, as varied and contrasting as possible. That works for me, it keeps me flexible and non-judgmental. But for some people maybe what works best is sticking to very specific things, styles, aesthetics. I don’t really know what to recommend specifically.

A LOCAL BASED FEMALE TALENT THAT DESERVES TO BE PROMOTED AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, AS EXPONENT OF LOCAL CREATIVE SPIRIT

I can’t recommend just one, there’s lots of amazing illustrators, artists that don’t really need to be recommended by me, but here are some names that pop in my mind anyways: Sorina Vazelina, Lea Rasovszky, Miha Hudrea, Ioana Stanca, Ana Popescu, Codruța Cernea, Marta Mattioli, Aitch, Irina Șelaru, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Ioana Maria Sisea, Tuan Nini, Oana Ispir, Lorena Cocioni, Giulia Crețulescu, Evelin Bundur, Alina Bohoru, Paula Rusu, Andreea Ilisăi and probably many others.

Bio

Romanian born contemporary artist @saddo.ro, currently based in Bucharest, juggles between paintings on canvas for galleries, large scale murals and commission illustrations for different projects and brands.

In his personal and commissioned works he manages to mix his taste for artists like Rousseau, Matisse or Grayson Perry, with his fascination for Iranian miniatures, Asian carpets, and his love of contemporary illustration, decorative arts, hip hop and urban culture. And just like a hip-hop DJ, he samples different elements, surreal imagery, portraits of rappers, luxury cars, brand logos, into his own intricate iconography.

He’s been part of numerous group shows all over the world (in Copenhagen, New York, Berlin, Montreal, Ottawa, Salvador, Bangkok, Vienna, Mexico City, Oakland, Portland, he’s had solo shows at BC Gallery in Berlin and Mobius Gallery in Bucharest, and has painted murals in Montreal, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Seattle, Bucharest, Paris, Rabat.

He’s currently represented by Mobius Gallery in Bucharest, and Dutch Uncle worldwide.

Among its clients are BSTN, Lavazza, Topo Chico, Regent Hotels, The New Yorker, and The Hollywood Reporter.

*****

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