Gëzim Mekuli 2021

Gazmend Freitag made this portrait, Gëzim Mekuli, on paper using graphite, in 2024. I always feel a special connection to portraits: it’s like meeting someone new, but through the artist's eyes. Freitag uses simple, direct marks to build up the image. The lines aren't about perfect accuracy, but about creating a sense of form and presence. See how the lines around the eyes and mouth are denser, giving those areas more weight and emotion? It's like the artist is focusing on the places where a person's character shows through. The texture of the paper peeks through the graphite, which gives a kind of lightness to the whole thing. The marks are pretty straightforward, but the overall effect is complex. It reminds me a little of Lucian Freud's drawings – that same unflinching gaze, capturing a person as they are. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to be slick to be powerful, and that sometimes, the simplest gestures can say the most.