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The Mask and the Mirror: Curated by Shirin Neshat

November 3 – December 21, 2011

ANDY WARHOL, Self-Portrait, 1977

ANDY WARHOL

Self-Portrait, 1977

Screenprint on Curtis Rag paper

45 x 35 in / 114 x 89 cm

(Courtesy of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.)

SHAHZIA SIKANDER, Metro, 2001

SHAHZIA SIKANDER

Metro, 2001

Color photogravure with spit bite aquatint and soft ground etching printed on gampi paper chine colle

10 x 7.5 in / 25.5 x 19 cm

Edition of 25

SHAHZIA SIKANDER, Reflect, 2001

SHAHZIA SIKANDER

Reflect, 2001

Color photogravure with spit bite aquatint and soft ground etching printed on gampi paper chine colle

10 x 7.5 in / 25.5 x 19 cm

Edition of 57

NICKY NODJOUMI, Untitled (Self Portrait), 1978

NICKY NODJOUMI

Untitled (Self Portrait), 1978

Monotype

16 x 12 in / 40.5 x 30.5 cm

(Courtesy of Priska C. Juschka Fine Art)

NICKY NODJOUMI, Untitled (Self Portrait), 2008

NICKY NODJOUMI

Untitled (Self Portrait), 2008

Ink on paper

17 x 14 in / 43 x 35.5 cm

(Courtesy of Priska C. Juschka Fine Art)

YOUSSEF NABIL, Self Portrait with Roots, Los Angeles, 2008

YOUSSEF NABIL

Self Portrait with Roots, Los Angeles, 2008

Hand colored gelatin silver print

10.5 x 15.5 in / 27 x 39 cm

(Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery)

YOUSSEF NABIL, Self Portrait with Pyramid, Cairo, 2009

YOUSSEF NABIL

Self Portrait with Pyramid, Cairo, 2009

Hand colored gelatin silver print

29.5 x 45 in / 75 x 115 cm

Edition of 3

(Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery)

YOUSSEF NABIL, Self Portrait, Istanbul, 2009

YOUSSEF NABIL

Self Portrait, Istanbul, 2009

Hand colored gelatin silver print

10.5 x 15.5 in / 27 x 39 cm

Edition of 10

(Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery)

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, Self-Portrait, 1980

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

Self-Portrait, 1980

(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, Self-Portrait, 1983

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

Self-Portrait, 1983

(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, Self-Portrait, 1988

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

Self-Portrait, 1988

(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)

VAN LEO, Self Portrait, Cairo, Egypt, February 18, 1944

VAN LEO

Self Portrait, Cairo, Egypt, February 18, 1944

(Courtesy Arab Image Foundation / The American University in Cairo)

VAN LEO, Self Portrait, Cairo, Egypt, November 22, 1958

VAN LEO

Self Portrait, Cairo, Egypt, November 22, 1958

(Collection Arab Image Foundation / The American University in Cairo)

VAN LEO, Self Portrait, Egypt, June 26, 1941

VAN LEO

Self Portrait, Egypt, June 26, 1941

(Collection Arab Image Foundation / The American University in Cairo)

SHAHRAM KARIMI, Self Portrait, 2006

SHAHRAM KARIMI

Self Portrait, 2006

Mixed media on old wood

12 x 8 in / 30.5 x 20 cm

Y.Z. KAMI, Self Portrait as a Child (dark portrait), 1991

Y.Z. KAMI

Self Portrait as a Child (dark portrait), 1991

Oil on photography on canvas

102 x 80 in / 259 x 203 cm

LYLE ASHTON HARRIS, Billie Blue, 2003

LYLE ASHTON HARRIS

Billie Blue, 2003

Digital ink jet print on watercolor paper

28 x 24 in / 71 x 61 cm

Edition of 10

RAMIN HAERIZADEH, Untitled 3, 2011

RAMIN HAERIZADEH

Untitled 3, 2011

Mixed media collage on paper

10 x 14 in / 25.5 x 35.5 cm

(Image courtesy of Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde)

RAMIN HAERIZADEH, Untitled 2, 2011

RAMIN HAERIZADEH

Untitled 2, 2011

Mixed media collage on paper

10 x 14 in / 25.5 x 35.5 cm

(Image courtesy of Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde)

RAMIN HAERIZADEH, Untitled, 2011

RAMIN HAERIZADEH

Untitled, 2011

Mixed media collage on paper

10 x 14 in / 25.5 x 35.5 cm

(Image courtesy of Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde)

PAOLO CANEVARI, Colosso, 2002

PAOLO CANEVARI

Colosso, 2002

Black and white print

6.5 x 11.5 in / 16.5 x 29 cm

Edition of 3, 1 AP

MATTHEW BARNEY, Drawing Restraint 13: Instrument of Surrender, 2006

MATTHEW BARNEY

Drawing Restraint 13: Instrument of Surrender, 2006

Silver gelatin, chlorobromide print in self-lubricating plastic frame

15 x 12.6 in / 38 x 32 cm

Edition of 6, 1 AP

(Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels)

CINDY SHERMAN, Untitled, 2000

CINDY SHERMAN

Untitled, 2000

Color print

30 x 20 in / 76 x 51 cm

Edition of 6

(Courtesy of Metro Pictures)

BAHAR SABZEVARI, Untitled, 2011

BAHAR SABZEVARI

Untitled, 2011

Acrylic on canvas

30 x 30 in / 76 x 76 cm

Press Release

The Mask and The Mirror, an exhibition of self-portraits curated by artist Shirin Neshat, will be on view at Leila Heller Gallery in Chelsea from November 3 through December 21, 2011. The exhibition will take place in the Gallery’s new space at 568 West 25th Street and will present photographs and paintings by 17 artists—some internationally iconic, others emerging and on view for the first time in New York—from the United States, the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. An!illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

 

The Mask and The Mirror will include work by Marina Abramović, Matthew Barney, Paolo Canevari, Feridoun Ghaffari, Ramin Haerizadeh, Lyle Ashton Harris, Y.Z. Kami, Shahram Karimi, Robert Mapplethorpe, Youssef Nabil, Nicky Nodjoumi, Bahar Sabzevari, Cindy Sherman, Shahzia Sikander, Iké Udé, Van Leo, and Andy Warhol.

 

Among the highlights of the exhibition are a photograph by Matthew Barney, Drawing Restraint 13: Instrument of Surrender, 2006, with the artist in full military uniform flanked by soldiers, and an untitled color print by Cindy Sherman from 2000 in which she is wearing a yellow wig and outlandish clown makeup. Also included in the exhibition are photographs by Van Leo(1921-2002), whose Hollywood-inspired images of Cairo’s belle époque are considered unrivaled in the Arab world.

 

"As a Middle Eastern artist with a history of making self-portrait photographs, I have been interested in how the West has influenced non-Western cultures and our way of capturing identity and expression of self," notes Shirin Neshat.

 

The works in The Mask and The Mirror fall into two categories. Some of them are self-portraits that mask identity while remaining autobiographical and functioning as a form of self-examination, exploring the artist’s personal emotional, sexual, and psychological angst. Other self-portraits serve as social commentary that mirrors pressing cultural, political and religious issues in the world the artist inhabits. In both forms, though, the artist learns to wear disguises, perform roles, and reflect society.

 

“I was particularly inspired by the parallels I found between the work of Egyptian photographer Van Leo and American artist Robert Mapplethorpe, as both artists photographed their bodies with similar sense of obsessions and results," said Neshat.

 

Shirin Neshat was born in Iran. She is well known for her work in film, video, and photography, which has been shown at major museums nationally and internationally. Her film Women Without Men won the Silver Lion for best director at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. She lives and works in New York City.