The Banija bridge in Karlovac 1995

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this drawing of the Banija bridge in Karlovac with ink on paper. Look at those marks! I love how the image is built up with these confident, almost architectural strokes. It’s like the artist is thinking out loud, each line a step in the process of seeing and understanding the bridge. There's a real dance between the abstract and the representational here. The way the ink bleeds and pools gives a sense of depth, suggesting the reflections on the water. The quick strokes and drips give the impression that this was made in a single, intense session, all about capturing the essence of the place. See how the lighter washes create an illusion of space and distance, while the darker, thicker lines anchor the composition? This piece reminds me of Cy Twombly’s more gestural works, or maybe even some of the landscape drawings of Guston in his later period, but with a distinctly graphic sensibility. Like them, Krupa embraces a kind of raw immediacy, where the act of drawing is as much the subject as the bridge itself. It’s not about perfection, but about the energy and feeling of a specific moment in time.