Nila Cohen 2017

Gazmend Freitag made this portrait of Nila Cohen with a reddish-brown pencil, or maybe it’s chalk, on paper. What I like about this piece is the artist’s approach to mark-making, it feels spontaneous and intuitive. The texture of the paper is visible, and Freitag uses this to his advantage. The lines aren’t perfectly smooth, they have a broken, sketchy quality, which gives the drawing a sense of immediacy. This contributes to the emotional feel of the portrait, which is a bit melancholic, pensive, and vulnerable. Look at the way the hair falls across her face, partially obscuring her features; this creates a sense of mystery and ambiguity. You can really get a sense of the artist thinking through the drawing, trying to capture something elusive and ephemeral. The economy of the marks reminds me of Matisse, who could do so much with so little. It is an ongoing conversation, this art thing.