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Manuela Klerkx
‘Forget me not’: 6 self-portraits in art
Where does the fascination of the self-portrait in art come from? From Jan van Eyck (a 'presumed' self-portrait with beautiful red turban from 1433), Catharina van Hemessen (with the first female self-portrait 'Self-portrait at the Easel' from 1548), Diego Velazquez, Rembrandt van Rijn, Thérèse Schwartze, Mondrian and Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Sarah Lucas, Maurizio Cattelan, Yue Minjun, Zanele Muholi, Erwin Olaf, to name just a few, they were all interested in the self-portrait. Some artists portray themselves in an attempt to get in touch with their true 'face', or to avoid concentrating on the subject and focus on the painting technique, the expression, the composition. Others make self-portraits in which they themselves disappear because they take on a different role, think of Cindy Sherman's photographs that deal with the different identities in which women are portrayed in the media and in society, taking herself as the starting point. In the strict sense of the word, these are not self-portraits but studies of identities to which the 'self' is subordinated. A category apart are the self-portraits that British Tracey Emin (57) made during her cancer treatment and shared with the public saying 'This is who I am'. My selection offers an insight into how to define the self-portrait: as an exploration of the deepest self? Like an attempt to portray yourself as different from the person you are? As an ideal image or, on the contrary, as an anti-thèse? And if, as an artist, you think you know who you essentially are, what does that look like in a self-portrait? Let's conclude with a quote from John Berger, the famous author of 'Ways of Seeing' (1972) who said: 'To be naked, is to be oneself.'
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The identity of Dutch artist Noah Latif Lamp (Amsterdam, 1990) consists of a mixture of culture, race and personal stories. In his multi-media works and performances, he explores - in a quite radical way - social boundaries using his own body. As in the work 'Wig 2020', consisting of a stand and a wig he made from his own hair that he shaved off as part of a performance and 'revitalized' in the form of a work of art. Lamp believes in the power of transformation of stories and memories, being at the root of new life and new appearances, including to ourselves. According to the artist, the way you are perceived and the person you essentially are do not necessarily coincide. In other words, the outside is not always a reflection of the inside. Lamp: 'You can only perceive yourself through your environment. The perception of your own existence, of ones self, comes from the perception of others. And its the reflection upon that perception which reminds us that we exist.'
(Represented by Tommy Simoens)
(Represented by Tommy Simoens)
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For more than forty years, Dutch artist Philip Akkerman (1957) has painted exclusively his own portrait. In doing so, he refuses to limit himself to any particular style or technique. The fixed subject, which he can now draw with his eyes closed, gives him the freedom to experiment with the techniques of the old masters. His self-portrait is nothing more than an excuse to become technically as good as, or rather better, than his most famous predecessors. Every working day you will find him sitting behind his easel in his studio. From 9 am to 5pm. Because Akkerman has a mission: he definitely wants to bring the art of painting to its knees, for not the art but the artist himself is king. However, not the artist as a human being - 'Existence is a completely ridiculous mystery, which we will never understand at all', according to the artist - but as a craftsman. And in doing so, he has become one of the leading painters of self portraits of our times. Akkerman: 'You must not seek yourself, but give yourself.' And who does that more beautifully than this Dutch master?
(Represented by Torch Gallery)
(Represented by Torch Gallery)
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Unlike Philip Akkerman, Suzanne Jongmans (1978) draws inspiration from her personal life, particularly from themes such as love, loss, doubt and transience. In doing so, she uses everyday disposable materials - such as foam film and cans - while drawing from 15th, 16th and 17th century painting, which, like her photography, is rich in symbolism. In her daily search for the right balance between the inner and outer world, holding and letting go, the mundane and the sublime, each photograph can be called a self-portrait. But even more than the image itself, Jongmans values the stillness, timelessness and beauty she wants to convey with her photographs. As if she wants to surpass the beauty of human existence with that of divine existence in which all contrasts have been removed and the outer image has given way to an inner sensation.
(Represented by Galerie Wilms)
(Represented by Galerie Wilms)
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Painting 'Self Portrait Reclined' from the 'Beauty' series of paintings, US-Austrian artist Addie Wagenknecht (1981) has used a Roomba, a robotic hoover she programmed to spread cosmetic pigments, medicines, perfumes and skin care products across the canvas. This way, an abstract portrait or self portrait is created based on elements that are normally used to cover up, embellish or perfect. Moreover, the human hand no longer influences the final result. As in the household, Roomba takes over the 'feminine' labour. The natural self-portrait has completely disappeared, giving way to 'the great unknown' or woman who no longer recognises herself in her own portrait. In a larger context, Wagenknecht questions about the relationship between technology, AI and identity. Doesn't everything, from cosmetics to AI, eventually become part of the system and commodified? Where do digital privacy and control end? And against this background, where does this leave the 'self-portrait'?
(Represented by Upstream Gallery)
(Represented by Upstream Gallery)
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Dutch artist Fleur van Dodewaard (1983) not only studied photography but also theatre at the University of Amsterdam. This may explain why her work is defined by the relationship between the human body and the space around it. However, by abstracting reality - including plant pots, grass, a black armchair or a lemon - the artist doesn’y portray the body as a physical object but as an abstract form in relation to its surroundings. In 'The Artist in Her Studio', we see the artist herself as a salmon-coloured, geometric shape, spreading across the flat surface and in direct contact with the objects in her surroundings. As if to say that the artist is not alone. At least, that she is not an autonomous being separate from her surroundings. The theme of the artist in her studio has been depicted countless times, as a posing being or a nude model, subject of the - usually - male, white gaze. Dodewaard, however, does things differently. Her self-portrait is that of a central figure in which everything comes together on one and the same level: the subject and the object, the maker and the model, the foreground and the background, the figurative and the abstract. The traditional male-gaze being ignored, the model as an object seems to dissolve in space. Isn’t that thought-provoking?
(Represented by galerie dudokdegroot)
(Represented by galerie dudokdegroot)
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You could say that every self-portrait is an attempt not to be forgotten. In the case of 'Forget Me Not' by Belgian artist Joëlle Dubois (1990), things are slightly different. It is true that she does not want to be forgotten by her Alzheimer's-suffering mother whom she sees slowly disappearing. In an attempt to stop time, she captures her mother while painting her. Because even the daughter does not want to forget her mother the way she was. After all, in the portrait of her mother, the artist sees herself. We know Dubois from her paintings, which is why the installation 'Forget me not' is as significant as it is exceptional. With this work Dubois wanted to create a kind of space – symbolizing a womb - around which people can walk. Just as children build a tent in which they can retreat, feel safe, Dubois wanted to recreate a womb in which real Forget-me-nots, planted in earth, act as a desperate reminder. As if the daughter would want to be in her mother's womb forever to avoid being forgotten. While the reality of her mother's illness appeals to her in the sense of the autonomous daughter who must accompany her mother in her final way of life, Dubois longs for the unity she and her mother once formed. 'Forget Me Not', besides being a homage to Dubois' mother, is an attempt to make illness and dying visible and discussable. A more beautiful self-portrait is almost unthinkable.
(Represented by KETELEER GALLERY)
(Represented by KETELEER GALLERY)