"Heads or Tails" Exhibition
RYAN LEE
This event has ended.
Mary Ryan Gallery announces Heads or Tails, an exhibition featuring portraits of human or animal subjects depicted either head-on or from behind, with an emphasis on faces and butts. The works on view, some made especially for this exhibition, are by living artists ranging from emerging to established, and working in all media. As a genre, portraiture has been prevalent for thousands of years and yet continues to intrigue both artists and viewers. Whether immortalizing a subject or probing psychological tensions, there are as many approaches to portraiture as there are artists. Playful, witty, crude, or celebratory, portraiture from all angles reveals something essential about an individual or artist.
At the root of all portraiture is the act of depiction, of choosing which figurative elements to portray and which to omit. This duality of the disguised and exposed, the represented and implied, is playfully emphasized in Heads or Tails. Each unexpected viewpoint provides a new line of sight, revealing different intricacies, characteristics and personalities of the subject.
Heads or Tails also examines issues of identity and projection. Through a mix of humor, wit, diversion and provocation, the artists included render the vulnerability inherent in being viewed by another--especially from behind, without the opportunity to meet their gaze. The power struggle between the looker (artist or viewer) and the subject is amplified, underscoring how one's identity can be questioned and determined by spectators. Artists and audiences not only decipher the sitter's individual characteristics, but also project their own ideas, attitudes, and temperaments onto the portraits of another.
Media
Schedule
from June 24, 2010 to August 27, 2010
Opening Reception on 2010-06-24 from 18:00 to 20:00
Artist(s)
Elizabeth Albert, Dotty Attie, Don Bachardy, Math Bass, Brian Batt, Sebastiaan Bremer, Leidy Churchman, Chuck Close, Will Cotton, Stacey Davidson et al.