The Evolution and Dialogue of Portraits in Art: A Contemporary Perspective, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Art

Download The Evolution and Dialogue of Portraits in Art: A Contemporary Perspective and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Art in PDF only on Docsity! Essay by Kay Koeninger, Curator The portrait tradition is an old and honored segment of the visual arts. The oldest portraits, the majority of which were executed in sculpture, focused on rulers and the elite and were aesthetic statements as well as political expressions. Only rarely in ancient times did the portrait include lesser-known subjects. One example is the ancient Egyptian portrait sculptures of the Pharaoh’s seated scribes, who are depicted in the process of writing. During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the painted portrait attained a dominant role. Portraits of rulers and the elite proliferated. And as the Western world shifted to also focus on the importance of the individual and the subsequent questioning of permanent hierarchy, the “common” person became an accepted subject. Thus, a new form of the portrait, the self-portrait, proclaimed the new role of the artist and the legitimacy of a personal artistic vision. Later, in American culture, with its celebration of individualism, the portrait and self-portrait would come to hold a central position in art. In terms of art history, the portrait has a secure and honored place. Its nuances continue to engage contemporary artists today. But we need to step back from the portrait as a mere historical object and investigate it more actively. When we look at a portrait, aren’t we looking at just another work of art? What does it offer to the viewer that is distinct and different? There must be something there to account for its ubiquitous presence in art history, especially since the Renaissance. Looking at a portrait or self portrait can be seen as a unique viewing experience unlike any other. For some clues, let’s go back to the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. In The Phaedrus, Plato examines the essence of a painting by criticizing it. He criticizes painting because, like writing, it is not the product of dialogue: “The painter’s products stand before us as though they were alive; but if you question them, they maintain a most majestic silence.” And what he said about writing, Plato could also logically apply to visual art: “They seem to talk to you as if they were intelligent, but if you ask them anything about what they say, from a desire to be instructed, they go on telling you the same thing forever.” Perhaps it is fair to say that in Plato’s Greece there was not a fully developed portrait tradition, and this is why he never deduced the “dialogue” that occurs when we confront another human face in art. True, there were impressive sculptural and painted portraits of the gods and the elite, but they conformed to strict aesthetic rules and were highly idealized. In general, we can say that there was not a wide range of detailed portraits of distinct individuals; in Plato’s own words, the portraits of his time, though exquisitely beautiful “go on telling you the same thing forever.” In contrast, the portraits in this exhibition do not “maintain a majestic silence” nor do they “go on telling you the same thing forever.” The Ohio artists whose work is represented here use a dizzying array of approaches and materials. Some do portraits of 2 dear friends or of strangers; some do portraits based in fantasy and imagination; others do self-portraits. But despite their variety, all offer us a strong dialogue between viewer and subject that is unique in art; all offer us a unique insight not only into others but also ourselves. “Know thyself” was the famous maxim of the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi; Plato himself would certainly agree that contemporary portraits often offer us this crucial insight. Many contemporary artists take their inspiration not from the present, but from the past. Amy Kollar Anderson is inspired by ancient goddesses from several different traditions. Whatever the culture, humans seem to have an affinity for mythical beings who magically partake of both animal and human nature. And many cultures seem to have a high regard for the cat. These two ancient strands are combined with contemporary materials and a touch of kitschy popular illustration to produce portraits that simultaneously partake of antiquity and the present. Ruth Finley goes back to the medieval tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins to produce both personal and universal meditations on human nature. Her visions often include elements of her own self-portrait as well as historical events and figures. Her use of non-traditional materials that refract light and color creates small hallucinatory jewels that speak to all of us. The realistic sculptural tradition continues to inspire contemporary artists. For Lisa Haapapuro, the process is as important as the final product; she values the relationship that develops between subject and artist so much that the resulting portrait drawing and sculpture revert back to the sitter. Marty Shuter uses facial fragments from a wide variety of people, including herself, to sculpt expressive meditations on our contemporary patterns of over-consumption. Abstraction, a key stylistic innovation of the 20th century, continues to resonate with contemporary artists. Ellen Price abstracts elements of family photographs in order to analyze universal questions of identity, race, and American history. Baila Litton turns to the non- traditional portrait subject of elderly women. Their complex faces are abstracted and layered through the use of different media to produce palpable evidence of long lives and myriad experiences. Chung Arthur Wang draws on Chinese and Western painting traditions in his vignettes of “everyday people” seen on his travels in China. More traditionally-styled portraits are still found in contemporary art. Leslie Adams produces highly realistic and beautifully lit portraits in charcoal; primarily an oil painter, she is drawn to charcoal because of the freedom and dramatic contrasts of value it imparts to drawing. Sid Chafetz uses the venerable technique of the woodcut for portraits that are combined with text to produce a limited edition portfolio, a traditional format with a long history in both visual art and literature. Contemporary concerns take front and center in the work of other artists. Marcella Hackbardt explores our fragile environment and our relationship to it. Chas Ray Krider reformulates the film noir fascination with the motel, and Francis Schanberger uses very