Self-Portrait 1982

Ivan Albright made this self-portrait in 1982 using what looks like charcoal and pastel. The layering of marks, the blending of tones… you can feel the process, Albright working and reworking, trying to capture something. And what he’s capturing is time, the relentless march of it. Look at the way he renders the skin: every line, every sag, every wrinkle is laid bare. It’s not a flattering portrait, but it’s brutally honest. He isn’t shying away from the reality of aging; instead, he’s staring it right in the face. There’s a rawness to the texture, a kind of gritty realism. Notice the single hair standing up at the back. The way the shadow falls around his eye. The mouth, neither smiling nor frowning. Albright reminds me of Otto Dix, who also had a talent for showing the unvarnished truth of the human condition. Art like this isn’t about beauty in a conventional sense; it’s about something deeper, something more profound. It’s about facing our own mortality and finding meaning in the midst of decay.