Portrait of Miguel 2006

Alejandro Cabeza painted this portrait of Miguel with oil on canvas. The brushstrokes are kind of scrubby, you know? Like Cabeza’s really working the paint into the fabric of the canvas, which gives it this great matte surface. I keep coming back to Miguel's hands. The way they're painted, they feel so solid and real, like I could reach out and shake them. Look at the highlights on the knuckles, the way the light catches the gold ring. It's like Cabeza is saying, "Pay attention to this person; he's been around the block." That ochre-y background color and the overall straightforwardness reminds me of Lucien Freud, who also had a way of making paint feel like flesh. To me this is a piece that feels like a real exchange between artist and subject.