Existing comment:
Eye to I
Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today
Every day, countless selfies are posted on the internet, announcing one's status, connections, and hopes. While some see authenticity in those digital images, the very concept of identity is fluid and open to constant reinvention. Artists think deeply about representation, particularly when they make self-portraits. By depicting themselves, they explore their own identities, linking their eyes to a self, an "I."
With developments in technology, twentieth-century artists have steadily begun to shift away from the mirror. Many have abandoned painterly, sculpted, or drawn surfaces to look through the camera, often choosing to generate mechanical reproductions that confirm their existence through prints, photographs, and video. While their created selves may, or may not, reveal their true character, we can, through slow looking, see something of their activism, self-reflection, or engagement with the history of art.
Drawn primarily from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, which holds over 500 self-portraits, Eye to I includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, prints, and digital works. The aim of the exhibition is to provide a background for today's fascination with self-portraiture and to inspire more self-representations that encourage empathy and understanding.
Unless otherwise stated, all works in this exhibition are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. |