Gezicht van een man 1906 - 1945

This head, or 'Gezicht van een man' by Reijer Stolk is rendered in pencil on what appears to be a page torn from a notebook. It’s all about the immediacy of mark making. Stolk uses a minimal approach, letting the barest suggestion of line and form do the work. I’m fascinated by the transparency of the medium, the way the underlying paper is visible through the graphite. It’s as if the drawing exists in a state of becoming. Note the tentative lines that define the contours of the face, the way they fade in and out, suggesting a fleeting glimpse or a half-formed memory. To the side we can see numerical calculations and lists, which have no obvious relation to the portrait, but enhance the feeling that we are looking at a sketch done in a moment, with no corrections or erasures. For me, Stolk’s work brings to mind the drawings of Cy Twombly, where the act of creation is laid bare, and the viewer is invited to participate in the ongoing process of making meaning. There’s an acceptance of imperfection here, an acknowledgement that art is not about fixed answers, but about asking questions.