Katie 2007

Curator: This is "Katie," an oil painting completed in 2007 by Gazmend Freitag. What strikes you immediately about it? Editor: The texture—I’m immediately drawn to how thick the paint is. It almost looks like impasto in places, especially in the depiction of skin. I can almost feel the weight of the material. Curator: Exactly. And consider that against the socio-historical context of portraiture. The availability of oil paints, commercially produced, shaped who had access to creating art. Commissions were largely for the elite, whereas portraits of working class people often appeared flattened, generic. This almost attempts a counter-balance. Editor: That's an interesting point. The subject certainly projects a direct gaze. A counter to historical female nude depictions created almost exclusively by and for men? It almost has a confrontational edge... but what exactly is it trying to do? The roses and her pose create almost opposing moods. Curator: It's less a rejection of the male gaze than a demonstration of labour – of time, the physical act of layering oils. How the subject would be posed in real-time for hours perhaps? Look at how Freitag depicts her arm holding her own hair – what labour is visible within Katie, or from Katie in response? Editor: Yes! This feels relevant now. Where photographic nudes are largely seen through curated and commodified images that require little physical labor beyond snapping the picture, this portrait seems invested in revealing production. Even with digital reproduction and online platforms today, something remains… different. Curator: I think it asks what is lost when an artwork is not understood as a record of production? And maybe it can't quite escape some art historical themes along the way. Editor: It’s given me a new way to see and interrogate realism. The conversation is always ongoing! Curator: Agreed, especially as our access to the art-making processes continues to evolve and change.