This upcoming Saturday will be the opening of a group exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery titled Scenes of Selves, Occasions for Ruses. I will be exhibiting a series of self-portrait paintings dating from 2006 to 2011, many of which have never been exhibited in Vancouver, and all of which have never been shown alongside each other.
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the opening of the exhibition, as I am in Reykjavik for the remainder of September, but if you are in Vancouver or Surrey, I invite you to see the show. The Surrey Art Gallery is an amazing gallery space, and they have strong programming under the direction of curator Jordan Strom. I feel really honoured to be a part of this exhibition, and while I will not be there for the opening, I will be taking part in a panel discussion later in November.
Details for the exhibition are:
Scenes of Selves, Occasions for Ruses
Jim Andrews, Eryne Donahue, David Horvitz, Roselina Hung, Suzy Lake, Elizabeth Milton, Pushpamala N and Clare Arni, Carol Sawyer, and Carrie Walker
Curated by Jordan Strom
September 15 – December 16
Opening Reception: Saturday September 15, 7:30-9:30pm
Surrey Art Gallery
13750 – 88 Avenue, Surrey, BC
In the era of status updates, photo sharing websites, and profile pictures, one’s image and therefore one’s identity presented to the world is more important, changeable, and multi-dimensional than ever before. Surrey Art Gallery’s new group exhibition Scenes of Selves, Occasions for Ruses features artworks by 10 artists in a wide variety of media – including drawing, painting, photography, and video – that explore the nature of identity, and particularly self identity, at the beginning of the 21st century.
Portrayals of oneself have come a long way since Dürer and Rembrandt developed self-portraiture as an artistic genre in the 16th and 17th centuries. Contemporary artists have made self-portraiture – and representation of themselves as stand-ins for ‘the other’ – a vibrant centre of art making today. As new communication tools have led to identity becoming increasingly connected to complex and overlapping social networks, today’s artists are re-examining self-representation at the limits of self-portraiture. How artists see and represent themselves reveals much about how we perceive ourselves and others.
