Iké Udé
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
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
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
Monotype
16 x 12 in / 40.5 x 30.5 cm
(Courtesy of Priska C. Juschka Fine Art)
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
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
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
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
(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE
Self-Portrait, 1983
(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE
Self-Portrait, 1988
(Courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation)
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
(Collection Arab Image Foundation / The American University in Cairo)
VAN LEO
Self Portrait, Egypt, June 26, 1941
(Collection Arab Image Foundation / The American University in Cairo)
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
Oil on photography on canvas
102 x 80 in / 259 x 203 cm
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
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
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
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
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
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
Color print
30 x 20 in / 76 x 51 cm
Edition of 6
(Courtesy of Metro Pictures)
BAHAR SABZEVARI
Untitled, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 in / 76 x 76 cm
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.
