Untitled Portrait 1998

This "Untitled Portrait" by Nuri Iyem is an oil on canvas measuring 75 by 60 centimeters. I love how the artist handled the gaze in this painting, so direct and kind of unsettling. I can imagine Nuri Iyem experimenting with a limited palette, layering thin washes of paint to build up the pale skin tones and earthy browns. It's like the painting emerged slowly, each layer responding to the one before. The more I look at it, the more I appreciate the almost flat application of colour, especially in the lips and eyes. It reminds me a bit of Byzantine icons with that bold, frontal symmetry, but then Nuri adds these touches of modernism with a hint of melancholy. Thinking about it now, this portrait feels part of an ongoing conversation between artists across time, each riffing off what came before, and I bet Nuri was looking at someone else when they made this.