Opal Ecker DeRUVO

The work takes the viewer up close.  It is personal.  But in Opal Ecker DeRuvo’s prints nothing feel voyeuristic.  Thanks to a conscious choice of depicting real people, partners, their mother, themselves, friends… DeRuvo puts us at ease in being part of the intimacy they renders.  Etched, drawn on stone, cut out of wood or created as monotypes, people whose identities are generally not part of the equation, nevertheless reveal themselves.  Self-care routines that seem familiar, moments of peace or rest, or the communion we find in getting our hair cut or makeup done, are all drawn to transcend the individual and show our shared humanity.  While mostly using black and white, DeRuvo manages to derive a warm feeling from deep contrasts and soft gradations of gray.  It is as if people part of their life, and whom we obviously do not know, were welcoming us into their intimacy.  The effect is one of soft embrace.
Since the publication of DeRuvo's work on our site, they chose the name Opal Ecker DeRuvo.  They were previously referred to as Paul DeRuvo.  This has been noted, and the exhibition updated with the artist's consent.

Paul DeRuvo - Ritual - etching aquatint drypoint - young men putting on lipstick - detail
$1,200

Ritual

DeRUVO, Opal Ecker

Aquatint, etching and drypoint on wove paper.Edition of 12.Signed, titled, numbered and dated in pencil.