Monthly Archives: September 2020

One of the most surprising contemporary Romanian graphic artists from the point of view outlined above, is, in my opinion, Răzvan Dragoș. A characterization by only a few attributes would look like this: unmistakable by theme, approach, manner, conception, artist who works clearly, orderly, clean, logical. His relative youth (under thirty at the time of writing) recommends him as a winning bet.

The exhibition “Phantasmagoria” (2014), signed by Raluca Arnăutu and organized by Anaid Art Gallery, brought together forty artworks made in a span of two years. What caught my attention was the theme that the artist had announced since 2012 through an exhibition, “Zoolandia”, hosted by the same gallery.

Represented as part of normality in Egyptian culture, the nude becomes for the ancient Greeks, later for the Romans, a symbol of human virtues. In the Early Middle Ages, nakedness represents humility, or rather humiliation, decay. Adam and Eve, related to the Fall Into Sin (as an iconographic theme), the Crucifixion or putti (ornamental angels) are among the few opportunities to represent nudity. With the Renaissance, ancient values are rediscovered, the valences of the nude developing exponentially.