Self Portrait 2009

This is a Self Portrait by Alexander Roitburd, and I'm imagining he made it in his studio, maybe late at night. The texture! You can almost feel the thickness of the paint, especially in that yellow couch, like the paint is standing in for the real thing. He’s caught himself here in a moment of complete repose, collapsed on a couch. I get the sense of a person at rest but not at peace. Roitburd wasn't afraid to lay himself bare on the canvas, and this image of vulnerability really resonates. The painting feels like a diary entry, raw and unfiltered. It reminds me a little of Lucian Freud's unflinching portraits, that same commitment to showing the human form as it is, without any sugarcoating. It’s like he's saying, "Here I am, take it or leave it." And that’s what makes it so powerful.