Timid Kern 2014

Alexander Roitburd painted "Timid Kern" with what looks like oils in a limited palette of browns, creams, and greys. This approach creates a certain mood, one of introspection and maybe even vulnerability. The texture in this painting is really something. You can see how Roitburd built up the surface with thick, expressive brushstrokes, especially in the dark, almost cloud-like background. The body itself seems to emerge out of these strokes. The figure is clearly worked, reworked, with the paint dragged around to create soft blending effects. The painting is full of contrasts, of smooth and rough, light and dark, which adds to its emotional complexity. Look at the way the shadows define the figure's back; it's both tender and a little melancholic. This reminds me of some of Lucian Freud's portraits, where the paint becomes almost sculptural, mapping the inner life of the sitter. It's a conversation across time, an ongoing exploration of what it means to be human. There are no easy answers here, just layers of feeling and paint.