Serban Savu (*1978 in Sighisoara, Romania) belongs to a group of artists from Cluj, Romania, who have caught the attention of the international art scene due to their unique stance on life and art in Romania. Their perspective expresses disenchantment with the utopian ideals of the old communist regime and at the same time skepticism toward the new capitalist order. The subjects of Savu’s paintings are scenes from everyday life featuring bucolic landscapes marred by relics of the superceded regime—Soviet-bloc–style residential buildings and abandoned factories. The people in his paintings often stem from the formerly glorified working class, yet the artist does not approach these figures with nostalgia. Rather, he presents them with sensitivity for the contradictions of contemporary life in Romania. Exhibition schedule: Pitzhanger Manor, PM Gallery & House, London March 25–May 8, 2011 | David Nolan, New York, opening September 2011