January 12 – March 31, 2013
Partcipating artists: Michaël Borremans, Noah Becker, Jeff Burton, Andrew Bush, Kent Dorn, Charlotte Dumas, Anh Duong, Pierre Gonnord, Debbie Grossman, Andrew Guenther, Rosemary Laing, Loretta Lux, Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist), David Shrigley, Tereza Vlcková, Matthew Watson, Nicole Wittenberg, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
This exhibition explores the work of international contemporary artists fixated with portraiture. It considers: the sitter, the artist and, you, the viewer. It proposes to facilitate a fresh look at portraiture, to re-evaluate and reclaim it as a practice central to the artist rather than the amateur. In this context the artist is the only genuine author of authenticity. To glean an authentic essence or presence, each artist must liberate the genuine aura of the sitter: this elusive thing that possesses immense psychological and emotional octane. An effective portrait captures something essential that can only be seen and felt by the viewer in the presence of the likeness. If we value portraiture, we must nurture the form, reconsider its role within the context of contemporary art, re-presented it, and support its practitioners. There are thirty-seven portraits in the exhibition: works on paper, photographs, videos, and paintings.
Curated by Dick Goody. Full-color catalogue available.
