The Art of Faces: Portraits

The human face is a mirror of a unique personality. Every anatomical detail such as eyes, nose, lips or the hair's texture tell a story of the person. Portraits and human expressions were represented in all types of art throughout history and showed how people looked like long before the art of photography was invented. These works serve as evidence of cultures, traditions, clothes designs or people. Portrait study was an important part of progression for many artists. It represented in different styles and genres. We can find portraits with a plain background and in home decor or landscape to emphasize belongings of a person to a certain class (the most popular portrait, "Mona Lisa" painted by Leonardo da Vinci, representative for the Italian Renaissance, reveal an enigmatic and mysterious expression, placed in a natural landscape with river and mountains.) Portraiture is the art of recreating a portrait and can capture a particular look or state of mind experienced by the model. This can be visually represented by many techniques, as pencils using tones of grey; colors, painting with strong or light brushes. History shows a lot of portrait examples, usually reflecting the purity, beauty, elegance in women and power, strategy, sharp characteristics in men. Today realism, hyperrealism or abstractionism in the art of representation a portrait is still very impressive and a way to communicate with people around the world.

I invite you all to be inspired by a face in your art representation. It can be a study of someone inspiring, a drawing, a painting or even a photography.

 

"Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter? ", Pablo Picasso

 

Curatorial Insights: Reflections on the Exhibition.

The art exhibition “ The Art of Faces:Portraits “ turned out really great, as I didn’t expected to see so many wonderful artists from different countries with their unique style and techniques. It was hard to make the correct selection in the end and also give the opportunity for as many artists to share their art with the audience. As portraiture is the art of recreating a portrait/face, it can capture a particular look or state of mind experienced by the chosen model on the surface such as paper or canvas usually. I have seen in this particular exhibition so many techniques from acrylic, oil painting, watercolor, graphite, ink, pastels, pencil, colors, inovative techniques to photography; a great inspiration for me too. Every artist is unique with a different approach and experience in art industry, representing a personal touch, realistic or abstract, using grey tones, shapes, lines, colors, emotions, real models or imaginary characters. 

 

I want to congratulate all the artists involved, and share a special appreciation for the winner of this exhibition, Elena Zapassky with her artwork: “Mario Preaches: We Need to Be Kind” , beautifully made in ink on paper, showing an older man with a wonderful black and white contrast, amazing details and powerful eyes expression. I felt from the beginning a connection with this portrait and his harmony.