Eye to Eye: Looking Beyond Likeness
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Indiana, Buffalo, 03/08/2015 - 05/17/2015
ABOUT
Drawn entirely from the Albright-Knox’s extensive collection of portraits, Eye to Eye: Looking Beyond Likeness features more than sixty-five works in painting, photography, sculpture, and video. This comprehensive exhibition of captivating depictions of humans from the late eighteenth century to today explores the evolution of Western portraiture by delving into the complex network of social conventions and artistic practice that have shaped the genre. History is rife with traditional images of royal and bourgeois culture that exemplify an artist’s ability to characterize the beauty, power, virtue, and wealth of the sitter. Yet this history also boasts a break with convention as artists begin to explore more innovative ways to embody individuality. Turning to their inner circles and unknown models, they began, at the same time, to reconsider composition and employ new media to personify the human condition.
From the time-honored and familiar to the provocative and experimental, visitors are invited to engage in a visual dialogue between past and present. Alluring portrayals, such as renowned Romantic portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence’s (British, 1769–1830) luminous rendering of a seventeen-year-old Rosamond Croker—which was described in The Times on May 11, 1827, as “replete with life, spirit, and character”—are juxtaposed with more abstract and conceptual works. Contemporary artists continue to redefine the vernacular style of portraiture; however, the genre is now embedded with concepts of identity and transformation that consider not just the social mask, but ways to embody what it means to be human.
Featured artists include George Wesley Bellows (American, 1882–1925), Chuck Close (American, born 1940), John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815), Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Richard Diebenkorn (American 1922–1993), Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916), Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (American, born Cuba, 1957–1996), Norman Rockwell (American, 1894–1978), Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954), Gillian Wearing (British, born 1963), and Carrie Mae Weems (America, born 1953), among others.
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Drawn entirely from the Albright-Knox’s extensive collection of portraits, Eye to Eye: Looking Beyond Likeness features more than sixty-five works in painting, photography, sculpture, and video. This comprehensive exhibition of captivating depictions of humans from the late eighteenth century to today explores the evolution of Western portraiture by delving into the complex network of social conventions and artistic practice that have shaped the genre. History is rife with traditional images of royal and bourgeois culture that exemplify an artist’s ability to characterize the beauty, power, virtue, and wealth of the sitter. Yet this history also boasts a break with convention as artists begin to explore more innovative ways to embody individuality. Turning to their inner circles and unknown models, they began, at the same time, to reconsider composition and employ new media to personify the human condition.
From the time-honored and familiar to the provocative and experimental, visitors are invited to engage in a visual dialogue between past and present. Alluring portrayals, such as renowned Romantic portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence’s (British, 1769–1830) luminous rendering of a seventeen-year-old Rosamond Croker—which was described in The Times on May 11, 1827, as “replete with life, spirit, and character”—are juxtaposed with more abstract and conceptual works. Contemporary artists continue to redefine the vernacular style of portraiture; however, the genre is now embedded with concepts of identity and transformation that consider not just the social mask, but ways to embody what it means to be human.
Featured artists include George Wesley Bellows (American, 1882–1925), Chuck Close (American, born 1940), John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815), Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Richard Diebenkorn (American 1922–1993), Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916), Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (American, born Cuba, 1957–1996), Norman Rockwell (American, 1894–1978), Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954), Gillian Wearing (British, born 1963), and Carrie Mae Weems (America, born 1953), among others.