The Boston Globe, March24, 2010

Lines and shadows by Cate McQuaid
Ion Zupcu’s gorgeous photographs at Miller Block Gallery look more like abstract drawings or etchings. Zupcu makes small models with folded paper, shoots them up close, and then makes prints larger than the actual models. The results are velvety, hushed, and precise. Crisp edges face us, with the rest of the models falling away in shadowy blurs. The paper’s edge is not a perfectly clean line, though — it’s more like a carefully hand-drawn one, straight and humble.

“October 30, 2004’’ features an accordion fold, narrowest at the top. We see the edge of the fold zigzagging downward like a dark lightning bolt, with wisps of shadow rising off both sides like smoke. Zupcu works squarely in a tradition of geometric abstraction.

In a few pieces, he pays tribute to that tradition. “Dear Frank’’ nods to Frank Stella with a pattern of concentric squares, minus Stella’s Day-Glo colors. Zupcu uses atmospheric shadows and coy, effective photographic play between drawing and sculpture.