Czobel 1974 Önarckép 1974

Curator: Bela Czobel's "Self-Portrait," created in 1974 using oil paint, provides a rather intense view of the artist in his later years. Editor: It’s certainly vivid. I'm struck by the almost frantic application of paint, particularly around the face. It conveys a great deal of emotional energy. Curator: Absolutely. The crude brushstrokes are quite deliberate, I think. Observe how Czobel uses contrasting colours – jarring yellows against patches of vibrant green and crimson – to create a sense of unease. It rejects traditional portrait conventions. Editor: It screams material presence. You can practically feel the thickness of the oil, see the individual strokes layering upon each other. What strikes me is the almost sculptural quality he coaxes from something so typically considered flat. One can almost feel the physicality and exertion needed in order to coax the final result, it really shows a great deal about his technique as well. Curator: Indeed. It departs significantly from more polished or classically-influenced self-portraits, doesn't it? Think about the function of the black beret – it seems to ground the portrait formally, even while contributing to the artist's chosen identity. Semiotically, it anchors the painting to ideas of profession and status. Editor: And beyond status, doesn't the almost childlike rawness, of both its materials and color, reveal the artist playing with a particular part of his own material and physical history? The visible means by which Czobel constructed this work suggest less about presentation, and instead, about the complex conditions of being a working artist in the studio itself. Curator: I agree. It’s interesting to consider that level of intimacy. By avoiding too much conventional ‘beauty,’ he achieves a much rawer depiction of lived experience. Editor: Exactly. Considering the ways paint accumulates on the surface opens pathways into understanding what this artistic practice meant for Czobel himself. Curator: It becomes less about strict resemblance and more about what portraiture can do and mean in its more fundamental and material nature. A fantastic, complex statement, wouldn't you say? Editor: It certainly encourages reflection on what can be read into the gestures made during an artistic act. Very provoking indeed.