Nadege in the Cafe 2013

Gazmend Freitag's "Nadege in the Cafe," an oil on canvas, presents a seated woman at a café. Immediately striking is Freitag's expressive use of color and brushwork. The composition, while seemingly straightforward, subtly disrupts conventional portraiture. The background blurs into abstraction, with gestural strokes of greens and yellows suggesting foliage. This impasto technique adds depth, yet the forms remain undefined, creating a tension between representation and pure painterly expression. Nadege herself is rendered with bold, almost Fauvist colors. The face, while recognizable, is built up from patches of red, pink, and white, rather than adhering to realistic skin tones. This approach challenges our perception, as if Freitag is deconstructing the very idea of portraiture. Note the materiality of the paint itself. Freitag’s thick, visible brushstrokes remind us that this is, first and foremost, a painting. Ultimately, the interplay between figuration and abstraction, combined with vibrant color, prompts us to reconsider how we see and interpret the world.