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Me. My. Self. Eye. Modern and Contemporary Self-Portraits from the MFAH Department of Prints and Drawings

Presented by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston at Museum of Fine Arts - Caroline Wiess Law Building

August 4-September 19, 2010

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The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the exhibition Me. My. Self. Eye. Modern and Contemporary Self-Portraits from the MFAH Department of Prints and Drawings, on view through September 19, 2010 at the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Me. My. Self. Eye. features modern and contemporary self-portraits from the MFAH collection of prints and drawings. This engaging exhibition illustrates how artists fuse their physical likenesses with their artistic personas to shape the viewer´s perception. Spanning the last century, the presentation comprises an eclectic group of works on paper ranging from a monochromatic drypoint by Max Beckmann to a vibrant, monumental image by Luis Jiménez.

Self-portraits are a subgenre of portraiture, which records physical likenesses, celebrates human traits, and commemorates events. Artists have made self-portraits since ancient times, but not until the early Renaissance (mid-1400s) did they begin depicting themselves as either important characters in narratives or as the main subjects. This development coincided with the invention of the mirror, an important tool in the creation of self-portraits. More recently, as exemplified in this exhibition, artists have found increasingly inventive and conceptual approaches to self-portraiture by utilizing photography and digital imagery.

Me. My. Self. Eye. is organized into four thematic sections that explore artists´ motivations for producing self-portraits: to promote their work; to record physical appearance; to create a narrative; and to express the social status of artists as creative geniuses. In addition to Beckmann and Jiménez, other artists featured include Chuck Close, Alex Katz, Henri Matisse, Kermit Oliver, and James Surls.

Pictured:  Luis Jiménez, Self-Portrait, 1996, 2004.834, The MFAH, gift of Timothy and Lynn Goode Crowley © Luis Jiménez.