“Re-presentation” An Exhibition of Contemporary Portraiture

This curatorial project proposal outlines an exhibition entitled “Re-presentation,” which explores the relationship between formal representation in contemporary works of portraiture and political representation. The exhibition investigates how form encourages viewers to look at, or understand, the figures represented and the larger cultural and political implications of such. The exhibition also explores the act of looking itself and challenges the adage that to see is to know by asserting the subjectivity of perspective. “Re-presentation” consists of twenty-seven works for the wall made between 1963 and 2020 by notable mid-career and established artists from all over the world and reflects the diversity of people represented in portraits today. Artists include George Condo, Nicole Eisenman, Lalla Essaydi, Alex Katz, Deana Lawson, Kerry James Marshall, Yue Minjun, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Amy Sherald, Jiro Takamatsu, Jeff Wall and Kehinde Wiley, amongst others. The exhibition is organized thematically and groups artworks based on the exploration of similar topics with similar formal aesthetics or modes of image-making. Although grouped based on similarities, this allows their nuances and differences to stand out more clearly, and the themes engage with and animate each other. Looking at works from different periods and histories next to each other tells a more dynamic story about representation, perspective and the embodiment of politics. The intention is that the synthesis of ideas in “Re-presentation” will urge us to reflect on our own subjectivities and gain a fresh perspective of both ourselves and others