Seerosen 2022

Gazmend Freitag painted these water lilies, or Seerosen, with oil on canvas sometime around 2022. The painting has these juicy marks, really thick in places, that remind me that painting is, first and foremost, a physical process. Looking closely, you can almost feel the push and pull of Freitag's brush as he builds up these delicate blossoms. The petals have this wonderful texture, built with layers of pink and white. The overall effect is both lively and serene, like a memory of a summer afternoon by a pond. It's got this quality that makes me think of another painter, someone like Emil Nolde, with his bold colors and expressive brushwork. Freitag and Nolde both seem to share this interest in art as an ongoing conversation across time, where artists respond to and build upon each other's ideas.