Throughout the history of art, self-portraits have been prevalent in every major movement, from the Italian Renaissance to the Post-Modern and Contemporary periods. Initially associated with questions of identity, the self-portrait has now taken on a new meaning and role as a tool for activism.
According to French philosopher Jacques Rancière, politics and aesthetics are deeply connected. All art is political in that it either reinforces or questions the symbolic structure of society. Thus, activist art infuses the act of creating art with social and political questions. This political side to creativity challenges the accepted discourses on the neutrality of art and aesthetics. A number of photographers have chosen to photograph themselves as a way to comment on and address societal norms. Although these types of photographs have often been criticised for their beauty, they actually open the eyes of viewers to the photographer’s perspective of what is happening in the world.
The exhibition, entitled Me, Myself and Us, showcases a group of artists who use the medium of self-portrait as a means of social, political and/or environmental commentary, including Cihan Çakmak, Omar Victor Diop, Krystyna Dul, Lyle Ashton Harris, Zanele Muholi, Cristina Nuñez and Emma Sarpaniemi.
In their self-portraits, Zanele Muholi and Lyle Ashton Harris question stereotypes about labour, racism, and sexual politics. In the same vein, Omar Victor Diop’s series Liberty uses self-portraits to depict pivotal moments in the history of Black protest.
This theme continues in his latest series, Allegoria, in which the photographer considers the fundamental question of the environment and its impact on the African continent. His work is an allegory of humanity's concern for nature.
The series The Burden I am Wearing by Krystyna Dul raises awareness of the global problem of the unsustainable fashion industry and its impact on the environment and the unethical working conditions of garment workers.
Featuring primarily female artists, this exhibition has a strong feminist tone with works by Cihan Çakmak and Emma Sarpaniemi.
Through her self-portraits, Cihan Çakmak decides to resist the predominantly male-dominated Kurdish culture passed on by her family, thus choosing to live free from oppression. Emma Sarpaniemi’s work deconstructs the notion of an idealised female body with self-derision and humour. Like the American artist Cindy Sherman, Emma Sarpaniemi uses her self-portraits to redirect the conventional gaze that would objectify a woman’s body, shifting the emphasis onto performance and play.
What unites these artists is their activism and approach to social issues. This is particularly evident in Cristina Nuñez’s work, which she describes as a form of self-therapy, thus transforming pain and other strong emotions into art. She has also opened this experience to public participation in The Self-Portrait Experience. In her series Somebody to Love, the many portraits of the author are combined with significant images of her ancestors and portraits of her family, investigating the relationships with and between them and illustrating her constant pursuit of her own roots and identity through faces and bodies.
The distinctive visual languages and approaches to activism unique to each artist highlight different causes that reflect today’s societal and political issues. In the same spirit as the previous exhibition, a dialogue is created between works by artists from Arendt's collection and new artists.
Claire di Felice
41A avenue J.F. Kennedy L-2082 Luxembourg Luxembourg DD/MM/YYYY trueThroughout the history of art, self-portraits have been prevalent in every major movement, from the Italian Renaissance to the Post-Modern and Contemporary periods. Initially associated with questions of identity, the self-portrait has now taken on a new meaning and role as a tool for activism.
According to French philosopher Jacques Rancière, politics and aesthetics are deeply connected. All art is political in that it either reinforces or questions the symbolic structure of society. Thus, activist art infuses the act of creating art with social and political questions. This political side to creativity challenges the accepted discourses on the neutrality of art and aesthetics. A number of photographers have chosen to photograph themselves as a way to comment on and address societal norms. Although these types of photographs have often been criticised for their beauty, they actually open the eyes of viewers to the photographer’s perspective of what is happening in the world.
The exhibition, entitled Me, Myself and Us, showcases a group of artists who use the medium of self-portrait as a means of social, political and/or environmental commentary, including Cihan Çakmak, Omar Victor Diop, Krystyna Dul, Lyle Ashton Harris, Zanele Muholi, Cristina Nuñez and Emma Sarpaniemi.
In their self-portraits, Zanele Muholi and Lyle Ashton Harris question stereotypes about labour, racism, and sexual politics. In the same vein, Omar Victor Diop’s series Liberty uses self-portraits to depict pivotal moments in the history of Black protest.
This theme continues in his latest series, Allegoria, in which the photographer considers the fundamental question of the environment and its impact on the African continent. His work is an allegory of humanity's concern for nature.
The series The Burden I am Wearing by Krystyna Dul raises awareness of the global problem of the unsustainable fashion industry and its impact on the environment and the unethical working conditions of garment workers.
Featuring primarily female artists, this exhibition has a strong feminist tone with works by Cihan Çakmak and Emma Sarpaniemi.
Through her self-portraits, Cihan Çakmak decides to resist the predominantly male-dominated Kurdish culture passed on by her family, thus choosing to live free from oppression. Emma Sarpaniemi’s work deconstructs the notion of an idealised female body with self-derision and humour. Like the American artist Cindy Sherman, Emma Sarpaniemi uses her self-portraits to redirect the conventional gaze that would objectify a woman’s body, shifting the emphasis onto performance and play.
What unites these artists is their activism and approach to social issues. This is particularly evident in Cristina Nuñez’s work, which she describes as a form of self-therapy, thus transforming pain and other strong emotions into art. She has also opened this experience to public participation in The Self-Portrait Experience. In her series Somebody to Love, the many portraits of the author are combined with significant images of her ancestors and portraits of her family, investigating the relationships with and between them and illustrating her constant pursuit of her own roots and identity through faces and bodies.
The distinctive visual languages and approaches to activism unique to each artist highlight different causes that reflect today’s societal and political issues. In the same spirit as the previous exhibition, a dialogue is created between works by artists from Arendt's collection and new artists.
Claire di Felice
L-2082 Luxembourg, Luxembourg