>>REVIEW
LIKENESS: PORTRAITS OF ARTISTS BY OTHER ARTISTS
Runs until February 25
Illingworth Kerr Gallery (ACAD)
Likeness: Portraits of Artists by Other Artists, on display at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in the Alberta College of Art & Design, shows why portraits remain one of the great conventions of the art world.
What we see through the eyes of artists in the more than 50 works presented here is a sweeping arc of emotions and experiences. Co-organized by the San Francisco-based CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art and Independent Curators of New York City, Likeness provides a refreshing entry into the world of the 30 artists whose creative prowess is being showcased.
As the title of the exhibition suggests, many of the pieces are portraits of artists, but there are also works depicting the artists’ friends or family members. Although a portrait of Andy Warhol or Robert Mapplethorpe adds an extra dimension of celebrity to the exhibition, most of the pieces stand on their own merit.
Not surprisingly, the very best portraits in this exhibition are those where there is an obvious level of trust and intimacy between artist and subject. This is exemplified by the monumental photograph by A.A. Bronson of Felix Partz, taken before Partz died from complications due to AIDS in 1994. Partz was a member of the Toronto-based collective General Idea, which he co-founded with Bronson and Jorge Zontal. A collaboration that the trio started as a way to poke fun at contemporary art now has, as one of its final markers, a work that is as powerful a summation of the deadly impact of AIDS as any piece I have ever viewed. Gaunt, bedridden and hours away from death, Partz lies with a package of Marlboro cigarettes on one side of him and, on the other, a remote control for the television. A gut-wrenching portrait, it may become Partz’s most enduring contribution to the Canadian art scene.
On a much lighter note, there’s the painting by Deborah Kass of photographer Cindy Sherman. Created in the style of Andy Warhol, the layers of mimicking and tribute are thick in this well-executed work.
Sherman is famous for her portraits in which she photographs herself in various situations in order to explore the lives of artists, showgirls, even an ex-realtor and personal trainer. In the Kass painting, Sherman transforms herself into Liza Minnelli just as Liza had once sat for her friend Warhol. The result is a study of celebrity culture and how the artist, too, is now viewed through this cultural prism.
Likeness is an engaging exhibition that provides a glimpse into the personal side of those who work as artists and who occasionally become subjects in the creative process. |
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