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Selfie (noun): a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam, and shared via social media.
Alone in her East Hampton studio, Anh Duong straddled a narrow, leather bicycle seat, her eyes fixed on her reflection in a mirror, a paintbrush at the ready and an easel to the side.
Her feet never moved as she powered through an uncomfortable journey to create the ultimate self-portrait depicting herself pedaling down a nature trail—creating an immediacy in the painting that she would not have had in a more comfortable setting, she said.
This is not a first for the East Hampton-based artist, who once painted a self-portrait while lying on the ground, on her side, wearing her wedding dress. Ms. Duong’s unconventional methods represent a small slice in a new take on the old self-portrait representation that has blossomed over the last two decades. Younger generations readily admit to a mild addiction to their phones and posting photos and videos to social media, many of which include what they call “selfies.”
This is the foundation for “Selfies and Portraits of the East End,” opening Saturday at Guild Hall in East Hampton, according to Chief Curator Christina Strassfield. Ever since she studied art history and, in particular, the work of Albrecht Dürer, she has fostered an appreciation for self-portraits and the evolving methods by which they are created.
“With the rise of social media, I noticed more attention being paid to formal portraits—both self-portraits and portraits,” she said. “Several artists in the show do commissioned portraits, and I was intrigued how that changes the image. Does the self-portrait become the visual diary, or is the self-image just that—an image to be used as an image?”
Ms. Duong’s bicycle portrait, “Louse Point,” which will be displayed in the exhibition featuring 25 artists, uses a true mirror, which showed the artist as she really was, rather than a reflection of herself.
“I’ve been using me, not in order to present me as me, but to be able to use myself as a way to express whatever is going on in my life through emotions and feelings,” she said. “And then, hopefully, the viewer will see themselves.”
Ms. Strassfield filled the exhibition with artists who use portraiture consistently, even as their main focus. Photographer Fischer Cherry has always been curious about different art forms, she recalled during a recent telephone interview. As a child, she would experience dizziness and exhaustion for days after visiting a museum. “I was overwhelmed from processing all of the colors, compositions and ideas,” she said. “My artistic process starts in the mind. From a small kernel of an idea grows a concept and then manifests itself in reality.”
“Selfies & Portraits of the East End” will open with a reception on Saturday, June 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Guild Hall in East Hampton, and remain on view through July 26. Before the reception, a panel of participating artists will discuss the exhibition at 3 p.m. For more information, call (631) 324-0806, or visit guildhall.org.
Jack Sullivan on Jun 16, 2015