Printmaking today offers a refuge for those artists who do not want to face the challenge of the central problems of art. The terrific mystique, signed editions, proofs, hand made papers and the Print Council of America, attempting to define what is, or is not, an original print, serve to blur the distinction between art and technique. Rico Lebrun’s print seems typical of the resulting confusion. From the point of view of art, why not just make drawings? But Shapiro, with his aggressive black and white images, stands out amongst the remaining top-drawer handlers of the technique.

—John Coplans