“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself,” Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

“Faces of Time: Portraits Across Two Centuries” is an exhibition examining the usage of portraits across history. This exhibition will attempt to capture the diverse history of portraiture in the last two hundred years, guiding viewers through century-spanning changes in the genre. Faces of Time questions how the identities of both artist and sitter take form in art; affected by culture, ethnic background, gender, and sexual orientation.

As Oscar Wilde once mused in his iconic novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray," portraiture is a reflection not just of the sitter, but also of the artist. This sentiment forms the thematic cornerstone of our exhibition, which explores the evolution of portraiture over the past two hundred years, examining how identities—both of the artist and the subject—are molded by societal norms, gender dynamics, and personal narratives. Through a diverse selection of works spanning various mediums and styles, "Faces of Time" seeks to provoke contemplation on the profound psychological, sociological, and historical dimensions of portraiture.

The exhibition features an eclectic array of artists who have left an indelible mark on the genre. The exhibition begins with some of Wilde’s colleagues, such as James McNeill Whistler with his portrait of Ellen Sturgis Hooper and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, with his gritty portrayals of Parisian nightlife and exploration of gender and sex work. John Singer Sargent continues this exploration of femininity and gender through his newly rediscovered queer identity.

The exhibition looks into portraiture in connection with African-Americans, looking into representations of race and marginalization. For instance, featured artists include Joshua Johnson, the first known African-American portrait artist, and Fedor Encke, who depicted a young black woman in his portrait. Tin typing is also featured, which is a photography technique used post-Civil War that documented many freed slaves and were potentially first instances of African-Americans to recreate their likenesses. Faith Ringgold, known for her artwork addressing racial and gender equality, uses a tanka to depict the systemic gendered violence that existed in slavery.

How portraits are represented is also considered, as artists experiment with interpretations of the human form. Artists such as Paschke and Samaras use chemicals, technology, and abstraction to create distortions, while Lostutter fuses elements of man and machine to present elements of Surrealism.
As portraiture progressed into the 20th century, artists became concerned with formal techniques to express psychology of their sitters rather than exact likenesses. Marisol uses woodwork to create a portrait of Willem de Kooning, imbuing the object with a sense of intimacy, while Elaine de Kooning looks to capture the psychological picture of her subject. Mia Westerlund Roosen, another contemporary of Marisol and the de Koonings, creates a more abstract sculptural portrait, where fleshy and visceral elements dive into a psychological realm of eroticism and repulsion. Burga and Fischl examine their relations to the art world, Burga creates a figure drowning in the media-forward world around her while Fischl paints himself attending an art fair; creating a sense of derealization and dissatisfaction with the art world at large.

Resembling the notions of social commentary that resulted from The Picture of Dorian Gray, contemporary art uses portraiture to critique notions of pure representation, containing contexts towards social issues molded under a technological and media-obsessed worldview. Katz looked to capture candid portraits of his family and friends, notably those within the art scene, while Freiman and Dodd responded to the hustle culture of the present-day and provided responses through American calmness and serenity. Condo provides a stark outlook of the American future, while Chowdhury, in the figurative style of Katz and Dodd, demonstrates the warmth of motherhood.

Shuyi Cao forces viewers to confront the alteration of natural form through man-made creations with her mixed-medium sculptures and installations. While her piece flows naturally, utilizing wood, rock, and shells, it juxtaposes these natural materials with plastic and trash, posing questions on humanity’s effect on the natural world around us, and how humans alter the order of matter.

While examining the course of portraiture over the last two hundred years, the viewer has the opportunity to view the intimacy of humanity reverberating throughout history. Although portraiture is often an archival pursuit, the values and ideas of the contemporary viewer and the larger culture is projected onto the pieces, creating an entirely new work in every generation's eyes. Throughout history we see ourselves, our values, and even our own faces; echoed through time.

List of artists: James McNeill Whistler, Oscar Wilde, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Joshua Johnson, Ed Paschke, Fedor Encke, Faith Ringgold, early photographs by and of African Americans, Marisol, Elaine de Kooning, Teresa Burga, Mia Westerlund Roosen, Srijon Chowdhury, Lucas Samaras, Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, Peyton Freiman, George Condo, Eric Fischl, Robert Lostutter, and Shuyi Cao.

For more information, please contact info@shin-gallery.com