SAATCHI GALLERY “From Self-Expression to Selfie”
The Saatchi Gallery recently displayed the “From Self-Expression to Selfie” exhibition which highlighted the current social obsession with capturing oneself digitally and questioned where exactly it fits within the artistic spectrum. The exhibition started by exploring self-portraiture which was favoured by some of the greatest artists such as Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, Rembrandt and Diego Velasquez. When you walk into the first room, you see their portraits shown on giant representations of smartphones, equipped with Instagram "like" buttons.
The intentions behind their self-portraits may have been to feed their narcissism, the general consensus behind the modern-day selfie, but may have also served a higher more artistic purpose. Kahlo and Munch used their self-portraits to explain their inner turmoil, while Rembrandt seemed to use it to document his mortality. No one is quite sure why Velasquez painted himself into what should have been an official portrait of the Infanta Margarita. It gives us the impression that all certainly wanted to cement their image within art history, hoping that their faces would be remembered just as much as their other subjects.
Work by other modern artists such as Andy Warhol, Tracey Emin, Chuck Close and Cindy Sherman were on display as well and all of them also explored self-portraiture through photography and photo realism. This medium along with the technological advances of smart phones, allows this art form to be accessible to everyone. Now it is possible for anyone to project their own image out there in the world, as an act of self-expression or means to cement their image in a practice that was once only reserved in portraiture for the wealthy.
We were particularly drawn to Daniel Rozin's 'PomPom Mirror', a hexagon filled with mechanically controlled furry pom poms, which changed from beige to black to match the silhouette of the person standing in front, much like a live ink blot. It wasn't just us that were caught by this piece, but everyone around too, desperate to make their mark onto the New Age canvas, even though it would only last a few precious seconds.
Another highlight of ours was Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's 'Zoom Pavilion' video mapping installation experience. CCTV cameras follow you, zoom onto your face, and try to decode your relationship with other people in the room. Images of this are projected around you, creating quite a claustrophobic atmosphere. The piece seems to examine a New Age fear of a much higher level of surveillance in our lives caused by images of ourselves being shown to others without our consent for purposes that we are not aware of. This intrusion can even come from our own cameras without our knowledge. It alludes to the possible dangers of projecting your "selfie" into the wider world and the disconcerting lack of control you have over who can see and judge you.
The exhibition aimed to begin the conversation about whether a modern-day selfie could be considered an art form, given that an artist's own image has always been a source of great artistic exploration. A new artistic concept has been explored throughout this exhibition that allows anyone to become a subject within an interactive artwork. This is an experience that is not attained while admiring a portrait by one of the old masters. We felt the exhibition posed a strong argument about how we should neither disregard a selfie as a mere form of narcissism, nor should we judge the accessibility of a smart phone as an invalid medium.
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