Autoportrait 1971

Eugene Leroy made this self-portrait, using oil paint, that most venerable of artistic mediums. But look closely, and you’ll see he’s really put it through its paces. The paint is applied in thick impasto, almost like a sculptural relief. The colors are muted, earthy, and seem to blend and merge on the canvas, creating an intense visual texture. It’s as though Leroy is wrestling the material into submission, forcing it to yield an image. And what an image it is! At first, it seems like total abstraction, but as you look longer, a face emerges. You realize that this isn’t just about the objective representation of a person, but about the sheer physicality of the paint itself. This is not the application of color onto a surface to create an image, it's a physical, sculptural act, more akin to the work of a construction worker than a conventional painter. Leroy challenges the separation between the fine arts and other kinds of making.