Karla 1993

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this red chalk drawing, Karla, in 1993. Consider its date: this image of a child's face was produced in Croatia during a time of war. The breakup of Yugoslavia had begun, and Croatia was fighting for independence. The image itself is ambiguous. Karla's sidelong glance suggests a desire to avoid the artist's gaze. The red chalk lends a certain rosiness to the cheeks, but also hints at blood, trauma, and injury. What does it mean to produce an image of innocence at a time of national conflict? This question is at the heart of any social history of art. We can ask whether the artist consciously worked with these ideas. We can also research the history of art institutions, consider the social function of portraiture, and look at how the Croatian war of independence was represented in popular media.