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March 01 - April 16, 2008
Self Reflection: The True Mirror
Art Exhibition
Works by Susanna Coffey, Jennifer Dubnau, Deborah Garwood, Phyllis Herfield, Haresh Lalvani, Robin Tewes, John Walter
at the Center
Artist's Reception: Sunday, March 9, 6:00-7:30PM, following the roundtable The Mirror and the Lamp
Visual artists have always received inspiration from the objective world, filtering their vision through cortical processes in both hemispheres of the brain. This shuttling between imaginative and mimetic processes constitutes an ongoing dialogue between the inner and outer worlds of the artist. While representational art and portraiture often impart the attitude of the artist towards his subject—one has only to look at Velazquez's Las Meninas to see how the point of view of the artist surges to the fore—the tradition of self-portraiture offers the most vivid glimpse into how an artist perceives the self. This act of self-reflection depicts the intermingling of sight and insight, subject and object. What does the gaze into the mirror reveal about the artist? For those of us who don't record our impressions with brush and paint, what does our relationship to the mirror reveal, how does it impact our imaginative process, and how does it influence our self-conception? The exhibition Self Reflection: The True Mirror illuminates the genesis of artistic identity, and coincides with the roundtable The Mirror and the Lamp (part of the Brainwave Festival held in conjunction with the Rubin Museum, Exit Art, The Graduate Center at CUNY, and the School of Visual Arts), which sets out to explore the neurobiology of imagination.
John Walter's True Mirror and Haresh Lalvani's multi-faceted Xurf Mirror introduce immediate, interactive examples of how we see our own reflection. The artists Susanna Coffey, Jenny Dubnau, Deborah Garwood, and Phyllis Herfield use portraiture to investigate psychic selfhood, while Robin Tewes depicts the emotional resonance of mirrors as objects.
This exhibition is featured on the Brooklyn Museum blog.
The exhibition may be viewed M-F from 11:00AM to 5:00PM, and by appointment. Please call 646-422-0544 or email info@philoctetes.org to make arrangements.
Exhibition curated by Hallie Cohen (Chair, Art Department, Marymount Manhattan College), with Adam Ludwig.
Robin Tewes, I Want to be a Housewife, 2002
Jenny Dubnau, Self-Portrait with Angry Face, 2005
Deborah Garwood, Who are I (Qui sont-je?), 1997
Susanna Coffey, Self Portrait (kiss), 2001