Scriptor Publishing House has released a distinguished volume Ioan Cuciurcă Afiș +, a nearly 200-page album catalog that documents an extensive array of graphic design by Ioan Cuciurcă, for some of Romania’s most prestigious cultural institutions. This comprehensive publication features designs created for the Union of Architects of Romania (UAR), Humanitas Publishing, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Institute of Art History “G. Oprescu”, the Museum of Music “George Enescu”, the Cultural Center Palatele Brâncovenești, ArCUB, and for smaller publishers like Clusium and Scriptor.
A highlight of the volume is a special poster commissioned by the International Poster Biennial of Mexico (BICM) to honor the celebrated artist Ernesto Garcia Cabral – El Chango (1890–1968). Over time, the catalog has grown to include works for the Union of Romanian Visual Artists (UAP), Proiect București, Proiect București Grup, Sithek, and fellow creatives, further enriching the narrative of Romanian graphic design. The insightful texts accompanying the catalog, signed by figures such as Architect Alexandru Beldiman, Adrian-Silvan Ionescu, Cristina Sabău, and Pierre Rădulescu Banu, provide critical context to the works showcased. Many of the posters have graced prestigious International Poster Biennales and Triennales in Mexico, Finland, Bulgaria, and Russia, and have been exhibited at notable venues in Romania, including Galeria Simeza in Bucharest and the Art Museum in Ploiești.
Produced in a modest print run and printed under special conditions (210 x 130 mm, 188 pages, featuring 173 full-color images),Ioan Cuciurcă Afiș + stands as one of the few, if not the only, authorial publications devoted exclusively to graphic design within the Romanian editorial landscape. It is a definitive testament to the creativity, influence, and enduring legacy of Romanian graphic art.
Ioan Cuciurcă himself is a trailblazer in graphic design whose work seamlessly bridges commercial art and cultural expression. His graphic style is marked by an innovative use of form, color, and texture, transforming everyday visual elements into thought-provoking narratives. Drawing on both contemporary influences and timeless design principles, he crafts compositions that are both meticulously structured and emotionally evocative.
As a curator, his energetic vision has propelled already 13 editions of Romanian Graphic Arts, a collective showcase that has garnered robust support from prominent art critics. Many of the posters he created for this annual cultural event have been selected for the International Poster Biennial of Mexico (BICM), underscoring his significant impact on the Romanian art scene. Through a dynamic interplay of typography, imagery, and layout, Ioan Cuciurcă redefines the boundaries of graphic art, making each piece a vibrant exploration of identity, history, and creative possibility.
A. I. M. Kovalevsky
