Until my ex took up portraiture, I thought it was an uninteresting genre of painting. But, in fact, it is a fascinating medium. Through Steve’s eyes I entered a new world wherein I could really lean a lot about the creative imagination.
Transmitting a reliable likeness is not necessarily the goal of the contemporary artist. Indeed, the genre is pliable, offering the means to invent new narratives about the self or to disguise, conceal, or even falsify it. Each portrayal is carefully crafted to divulge only as much truth as the author chooses.
The Lens and the Mirror: Self-Portraits from the Collection, 1957–2007
July 21, 2009–December 6, 2009
The Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
Modern and Contemporary Art, mezzanine north and 1st floor
Link.
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