Self-Portrait 1979

Editor: This is Avigdor Arikha’s Self-Portrait, made with charcoal in 1979. It feels incredibly raw, almost confrontational, like the artist is daring you to look away. What stands out to you when you look at this work? Curator: What strikes me is the intentionality behind what Arikha chooses to reveal, and perhaps more importantly, what he obscures. Think about the sociopolitical contexts of self-representation. This was created decades after the Holocaust, where identity itself became a site of violence. How might we interpret this interplay of light and shadow through the lens of trauma and self-preservation? Editor: That's a really powerful way to look at it. The stark contrast could represent a fractured sense of self, a struggle to reconcile internal and external perceptions. Do you see the choice of medium as significant in that context? Curator: Absolutely. Charcoal, with its immediate, almost volatile nature, feels appropriate for expressing vulnerability. It's also a medium associated with sketching, a kind of “first draft” of the self. In that sense, it reflects an ongoing process of self-examination, doesn't it? He also worked from life, avoiding preparatory drawings, which makes it quite radical. What do you make of that process? Editor: That’s fascinating. Maybe the lack of planning points to a desire to capture an authentic, unfiltered version of himself, almost like a performance of identity? Curator: Precisely! And perhaps a rejection of established artistic conventions, of perfectly polished self-images, making a powerful statement about the multifaceted nature of identity. Editor: I hadn’t considered how much this piece engages with larger ideas about trauma and identity. Curator: Art invites us to grapple with complex ideas, often personal, but always situated within larger historical narratives.