While working, Russu also changed his technique. In the early plates, fine nervously vibrating lines crisscross the plate or run parallel. Over time, these sensitive lines give way to single, strong cords, solidly incised into the plate and solidly stacked on the paper, surrounding the aquatinted areas like a wall. DECIPHERING THE EROTICISM of the iconography was a challenge. One may even be tempted to reread Boccaccio’s tales. Russu provides an image of 14th century Italian life by weaving certain artifacts into his graphic tale. Checkerboard tablecloths, wine glasses, rigged sailing vessels, horsemen and horsewomen, the headgear of the period appear throughout the prints, in variations. Men and women are barely humanoid, heads, torsi, limbs are floating in space, disconnected, yet making sense and fitting together. Banquet tables with checkered tablecloths are overturned, wine glasses have fallen down, unbroken, the wine flowing out. A real orgy. One head with a Cocteau-like profile is barely connected to a necktie of the 20th century. Limbs terminate in stumps or clumps or geometric finials. The anthropomorphic shapes in prehistoric caves come to mind. RUSSU THE PRINTMAKER forces the viewer to return to his prints and try to interpret the meaning of their iconography. While they are immediately attractive visually, they ask for more attention in the long run.

( Ingrid Rose, Curator MoMA, New York )