The Sun Keeps Rising

In The Sun Keeps Rising, Radu Baies explores the delicate rhythms of existence, where each daybreak embodies a moment of quiet resilience and introspection. His work presents a world that rises and rests, shaped by the continuity of life’s journey, full of paradox and simplicity. This exhibition centers on the universal cycle of human experience—its sorrows, joys, and everything in between—expressed through a tranquil landscape where nature and the human figure find harmony in the endless passage of time.

The exhibition’s title, The Sun Keeps Rising, suggests an enduring optimism, a promise that life persists even in its most turbulent moments. For Baies, this is more than a phrase; it’s a meditative study on continuity. Life’s journey, reflected in his diptychs and single pieces alike, is depicted through a lone figure or pair, their solitude symbolizing the space needed for self-reflection, to ask the philosophical questions that reconnect us with our innermost identities. Baies’s works invite viewers to engage in this solitary reflection, where, despite life’s transitory nature, the steady sunrise offers quiet assurance.

In his recent paintings, Baies has infused a sense of peacefulness inspired by Morandi’s still-life compositions. The scenes here are expansive yet intimate, crafted in muted whites and soft tones that evoke a silent, almost sacred atmosphere. A small human figure wanders under the towering forms of ancient, twisted trees. In this world, humanity is a guest, dwarfed by nature's grandeur, recalling Gustav Klimt’s early 1900s paintings. Baies’s trees are more than botanical subjects; they are metaphysical symbols of endurance and silent witnesses to time’s passage. They rise tall, rooted to the earth yet stretching toward the sky, standing as sentinels of the unseen—the mysteries of life, memory, and transformation.

These trees, bent and shaped by the environment, embody a sense of age and wisdom. Like humans, they bear traces of their surroundings, shaped by the culture, music, and people that frame their world. They would seem to say, “I’ve seen so many things in my life, and they have formed who I am.” In their baroque, textured leaves, the viewer is invited to walk closer to the pieces, scrutinizing the details and elements of the composition. The rest of the painting contains a from of surreal, ghostly quality. A blurring of reality and dream invites each viewer to bring their own perspective, bringing to mind Caspar David Friedrich’s scenes, letting a form of mystery remain.

Baies’s figures are anonymous, their faces indistinct, making them mirrors for viewers to find fragments of themselves. This generality is intentional; the paintings’ magnetic pull lies in their invitation to identify with the figures, to feel the pull of shared human experience. Here, the trees and figures become silent cohabitants in a landscape of mutual respect and quiet dialogue, reminding us of our fleeting presence within an enduring natural world.

Through The Sun Keeps Rising, Radu Baies brings forth a contemplative vision—a reminder of resilience, of life’s capacity to continue. His works ask us to pause, to listen, and to reflect on our place within the grand, evolving tapestry of existence. As much as these paintings offer interpretations, they hold back just as much, leaving space for personal resonance and an invitation to interpret this profound journey in one’s own way.

Read more about the artist.