A self-portrait is the original and ultimate artist’s statement. Here, without an often awkward translation to the written word, an artist can demonstrate his or her ambitions, prowess, and ideals, employing the most familiar and the most intimately known sitter. The results can range from works of brutal criticism to those of self-fashioned heroism, but with nuances that often probe the conflicts of the artist’s role in society and the inner life of the subject, expressed with an objectivity that a portrait of another can rarely achieve. The works presented here both refer and respond to the long and rich tradition of self-portraiture even as they seek to engage and at times confront the viewer in vibrant and challenging ways.

- Robert Simon

“Self-Portraiture has become the defining visual genre of our confessional age: the sheer volume of contemporary self-portraits defies enumeration. More of us, from more countries, are more interested in self-portraiture than ever before. Self-portraits have migrated far beyond the church, palace, studio, academy, museum, gallery, plinth and frame. Nowadays photographic and filmed self-portraits flood the internet, and school children are required to make them. It is widely assumed- and hoped- that self-portraits give privileged access to the sitters soul and thereby overcome the alienation and anonymity experienced by so many in modern urbanized societies.”  – James Hall, The Self Portrait: A Cultural History, pub. 4/22/14

This exhibition celebrates the unique visions of 27 contemporary realists from around the world. These self-portraits represent the perspective of an emerging generation of artists and their pursuit of identity in a world of shifting artistic values. These exhibited works display a cross-section of styles, many representative of the pedagogies of the world’s foremost art academies: The Lyme Academy, The Florence Academy of Art, Grand Central Atelier, the School of Visual Arts and The Art Students League. Celebrating an artistic practice that reaches back to the Renaissance, the works of SELF-PORTRAIT offer compelling evidence that the legacy of great western art continues to live on through the practice of artists alive today. With the self-portrait as the shared origin of inspiration, these works present a dazzling synthesis of technical skill and personal vision.

Artists

Daniela Astone, Colleen Barry, Stephen Bauman, Anthony Baus, Patrick Byrnes, Jacob Collins, Kamille Corry, Hollis Dunlap, Louise Fenne, Daniel Graves, Richard Greathouse, Amaya Gurpide, Cornelia Hernes, Brendan Johnston, Joshua LaRock, Rodrigo Mateo, Edward Minoff, Gregory Mortenson, Carolyn Pyfrom, Edmond Rochat, Irvin Rodriguez, Travis Schlaht, Jordan Sokol, Will St. John, Nicolas Uribe, Charles Weed and Justin Wood.