Angi 2013

Gazmend Freitag made this oil on canvas painting, Angi, with pretty gestural marks. I love the raw strokes, the way he's not afraid to let the paint be itself. Look at how the grays and fleshy pinks wrestle on the canvas! You can almost feel the push and pull of the brush, the artist figuring it out as he goes. The paint is pretty thick in places, building up a texture that's almost sculptural. I keep coming back to those legs – they're so solid, so present, even though they're made with just a few strokes of color. They remind me of a de Kooning figure, all energy and attitude. It’s the kind of painting that reminds you that art isn't about perfection; it's about process, about the messy, beautiful struggle of making something real.