Page 14 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu
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Visionary Expressionism in Petru Petru Russu’s figurative tales are not merely descriptive. They connect
Russu’s Decameron: An Analysis with the text through pure, fantastical solicitation that the artist renews
time after time. The text stimulates his taste and genius for a narrative
plot derived from his pure, fantastical, visionary world, where symbolic
Petru Russu is a fascinating figure in the art presences, archetypal and mysterious, emerge. His sheets are precious
world, known for his deep engagement with for their vivid yet softened chromatic, insinuating among the spaces
archetypal symbols. He draws upon the rich created by a skillful etching mark aware of the medium’s expressive
tapestry of universal symbols and myths that qualities. Observing Petru Russu’s engravings feels like encountering
have been part of human consciousness for ancient miniatures animated by tensions and enchantments. A surrealist
millennia. His work is a blend of contemporary component in Petru Russu’s figurative world grants him the freedom to
art and timeless symbolism, weaving reach a fantastic dimension as a space of visionary revelation, echoing
together the old and the new in a unique and the archetypal surrealism of Romanian artist Victor Brauner.
compelling way.
Dan Haulica* spoke about a “double dimension of technological
mechanics and organic unity” in Petru Russu’s artworks. The visionary
world of Petru Russu seems to allude to both dimensions, as two
competing archetypes within our reality’s folds. These dimensions
Petru Russu’s etchings from 1985 are a testament to his visionary appear indistinguishable within his visionary plot, where floating
expressionism. His work is dramatic, arousing, and brimming presences of surreal symbolic figures coexist.
with excitement, challenging reality through the emergence of
a symbolic-oneiric (dream-like) awareness that sharpens into These dimensions remain spheres of allusion. They reference the
a scream. This artistic approach serves as a profound psychic mechanical plot of our contemporary world and the iconic plot
investigation, a violent confession of anguish. Petru Russu’s work that follows us daily. They also reference a remote organic root,
is teeming with presences that dramatically bring reality back to an anthropological truth on which the motivations of a visionary
archetypal truths, contrasting with the leveling monotony of the symbolism, like Petru Russu’s, are based.
daily horizon.
During an exhibition, I had the opportunity to interview Petru Russu
In his engraving work, Petru Russu’s visionary attitude is for my print collector friends in the States. Petru Rusu shared that
accentuated by a narrative easing. This shift loosens the he had read the Decameron at 14. The erotic tales lingered in his
dramatic tension and embraces the pleasure of pure dreaming. mind while he grew up. About 15 years later, he decided to create
The atmosphere becomes lighter, ironic, and fluid. The plot 10 prints of the tales that had impressed him most. Once begun in
evolves towards dimensions of pure imagination, reminiscent late 1983, he continued until he had illustrated all the tales on 100
of a fantastical machine’s exercises. Characters come alive in a plates two years later. He printed the edition of 10 impressions per
metamorphic dimension, crossing into fantastic spaces. They are plate himself. Initially, he worked with finely drawn black lines and
liberated from conventional logic, driven solely by the necessity brown-toned aquatint, printing 3 to 5 impressions of each plate in
of their narrative plot. This narrative plot, crafted by Petru Russu’s these subdued colors. As he continued working, he started adding
fantasy, creates a game of possible analogies with the text. stronger colors in aquatint.
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