Portrait Fridays: A 20-Year Tradition of Artistic Expression

September 3, 2004, marked the first meeting of the “Group of Portrait Artists on Friday,” a sacred space for artists and art enthusiasts in Medellín to capture the faces of those who dare to pose. This intimate exercise between university artist friends from the University of Antioquia and the Fine Arts has transformed into a meeting space and collective ritual full of mysticism, which today, two decades later, continues to thrive.

This meeting place has survived the passage of time, technology, the city’s architectural changes, and trends. José Antonio Suárez, a photo addict, engraver, and one of the most consistent founders of “Portrait Fridays,” is a regular face every week. He has captured countless faces that not only capture expressions but also stories. His drawings, collected in notebooks, have gone beyond borders.

“Waiting for 20 years is a mystery because there are people who say this is already out of fashion, in universities they say you shouldn’t take a picture anymore because everything is already done and there are so many people in this celebration is inexplicable. … only We are making portraits, we have been drawing ourselves all this time with the same face and we are still there…” said the artist, who is well known in Museums in Europe and North America for showing that the intimate is part of modern art.

The celebration of the 20 years was lived in complete silence, more than 40 artists at a round table made portraits of people. This time, as always, there were no teachers in the front teaching classes on drawing, and as this is a custom, those who attend every beginning of the weekend agree that the space is a means of learning to see, and so are all who look, They have “polished” in every session.

“I came here because of the interest in drawing, I realized from voice to voice, like all of us who have passed through this space. Every time I come I learn, you sit behind those you think know the most to watch them draw and you correct yourself when you see everyone’s results,” reports Tomás Sánchez, one of the new artists in the group.

Of the founders, only four are left, besides José Antonio, another of them is León Tirado Mesa, an artist from the center of Medellín who does not like to be lost.

“I say more than a thousand people passed through the group, in fact the only interest is to take portraits and have a friendly, pleasant, academic, productive and learning meeting. “I’m very happy,” adds Tirado.

All artists have left their mark, regardless of their experience with drawing. Although they do not receive financial compensation for the portraits, many come from disciplines where drawing is an integral part, such as design or architecture. What they all share is the certainty that, Friday after Friday, they will be there, standing firm, paper and pencil in hand, ready to observe their model and let the line flow.

Waiting for Friday

In the famous book “The Little Prince”, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wednesday has a special meaning because of the ritual of the fox, who has the possibility to go out for free on that day and share meeting time. For the fox, Wednesday is special because it is the day when they are not hunted and can be quiet.

Similarly, for “Portrait Friday” artists, every Friday is eagerly anticipated as it is an opportunity to collect, create, share and enjoy art together.

“For me, Friday is fox Wednesday, because I wait for Friday all week with immense joy, because on that day they are not going to hunt us and we are only going to take pictures“, said Suárez after telling this story about the Little Prince.

Those who attend come from different disciplines of knowledge, who come together to let their strokes flow freely.

León Tirado sums it up like this: “Actually, I don’t even work on Portrait Artist Fridays. I attend even if it’s half a day, in the morning or in the afternoon, it’s already part of my life”.

As they celebrate their twentieth anniversary, the group of portraitists look back with pride and forward with excitement. The hope that this meeting continues to exist in a stable space, almost as an artistic institution in Medellín, is more alive than ever. For now, until they find a stable place, they will continue to travel, visit universities, houses, and parks, and reaffirm their commitment to the ritual of the notebook, the pencil, and the art.