Marcel (portrait de Marcel Duchamp) 2007

Curator: What immediately grabs me is the layering of coloured lines creating this somewhat fragmented, spectral quality. It almost vibrates off the surface. Editor: That's interesting. This is Gerard Fromanger's 2007 pen drawing, "Marcel (portrait de Marcel Duchamp)". What I see is this relentless energy – look at the insistent quality of line— the constant movement speaks to a very deliberate engagement with his materials. Curator: It definitely conveys Duchamp's restless intellect. The overlaid lines in varying colours seem to mimic the multiplicity of Duchamp's persona. Notice how each line, distinct yet interwoven, suggests different facets of his personality, his humour, his artistic defiance. The eyes appear to peer through a veil, which adds to the image’s complexity. Editor: I am struck by how Fromanger's choices, pen as medium, line as style, seem crucial for expressing immediacy. Pen invites speed, right? And it seems apt to capture an icon who championed spontaneity, anti-art attitudes. The material mirrors the conceptual, perfectly encapsulating the man, Marcel Duchamp, and his impact on art. Curator: The colours, however, puzzle me a little. Red and yellow zigzags contrast with smoother blues and blacks, as though signalling inner conflict, perhaps Duchamp's wrestling with his legacy. Editor: Well, you see the image invoking symbolism, I see an artist deploying simple tools and clear marks to push the capabilities of drawing as a representational form. A straightforward medium—pen— to challenge, rather than simply mirror, Duchamp's iconoclastic stance. I like it. Curator: An elegant study of a profound influencer. Editor: The portrait feels immediate in its impact, direct in its technique, revealing in its presentation.