Emmanuel Peterfalvi - Alfons 2016

Gazmend Freitag created this drawing of Emmanuel Peterfalvi, titled Alfons, in 2015. The subject's face is rendered with delicate pencil strokes, punctuated by the bold use of red highlights around the eyes and lips. Consider the motif of the portrait itself. Since antiquity, portraits have served as powerful symbols of identity, status, and memory. The image immortalizes the subject, fixing their likeness for posterity. Yet, here, the unfinished quality and sketch-like nature of the drawing lend it a sense of immediacy, as if capturing a fleeting moment or impression. This duality is fascinating. Reflect on the use of color. Red, historically associated with passion, vitality, and even danger, is sparingly applied, drawing our attention to the eyes, the windows to the soul, and the lips, the instruments of expression. It's a psychoanalytic emphasis on key features. Such emphasis engages viewers on a deep, subconscious level, hinting at the subject’s inner world. The red recurs as a signature below. The portrait reminds us of the cyclical journey of symbols across time. It appears, evolves, and resurfaces with shifting meanings, always echoing the past while speaking to the present.