Chris Shepherd | Jay Senetchko | Jen Mann | Khim Hipol | Lyle XOX | Michael Love | Miya Turnbull

Me Myself & I features 7 Artists based in Canada who utilize self-portraiture as a central component of their practices. The use of the artists’ own image has a significant place in art-history, with traditional forms of self-portraiture frequently being an important part of an artists’ central body of work, establishing a likeness of the artist for the historical record. Contemporary Artists have reinvigorated the self-portrait and are using it to explore ideas related to the expression of the self; both in terms of how society sees us as individuals and the ways that individuals can construct a self that can be adaptable, performative and change over time.

The artists in this exhibition represent a range of approaches to representing the self; from showing themselves as cultural or historical figures; to utilizing masking, face coverings and props to both project and hide their identity; to covering their bodies completely, creating sculptural forms that suggest an emotional and physical state; to time-based series that document changes to the physical self. These artists deal with concepts of personal and cultural identity, but also question social forces, technologies and artistic strategies that provide multiple possibilities for how they present themselves to the world.

Image:
Jen Mann
Cover Girl - Pop, 2019
48 x 36 in.
Oil on Canvas