Keith Cottingham, Twins, 1993.
Keith Cottingham, Twins, 1993.
Lyle Ashton Harris, The Child, 1994.
Lyle Ashton Harris, Dread and Renee, 1994.
Lyle Ashton Harris + T. A. Harris, Brotherhood #3, 1994.
Sharon Lockhart, Untitled, 1996.
Sharon Lockhart, Audition One: Simone and Max, 1994.
Catherine Opie, Self Portrait, 1993.
Catherine Opie, Being and having: Bo, 1992.
Collier Schorr, In the Garden (torso), 1995.
Collier Schorr, Too Sentimental Education, 1995.
Tony Tasset, My Parents, 1994.
Keith Cottingham, Twins, 1993.
Keith Cottingham, Triplets, 1993.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Anita Pace, Only Shallow, 1996.
Anita Pace, Only Shallow, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Vanessa Beecroft, VB 6, 1996.
Anita Pace, Only Shallow, 1996.
Catherine Opie, Crystal Mason, 1994.
Catherine Opie, Bernie, 1993.
Lyle Ashton Harris, Mother and Sons, 1994.
Sharon Lockhart, Audition Two: Darlla and Daniel, 1994.
Sharon Lockhart, Audition Five: Sirushi and Victor, 1994.
Sharon Lockhart, Audition Three: Amalia and Kirk, 1994.
Collier Schorr, Monika Sophia Condrea, 1995.
persona brings together seventeen artists who conceive of identity as a set of distinguishing, not delimiting, characteristics in which one might lose rather than find one’s self. More than an examination of those characteristics that one would consider fundamental to their being, the artists in persona suggest that the essence of the individual lies beyond these characteristics. In fact, none of these characteristics, be they biological—as is sex, social—as are nationality and religion, or a combination of both—as is race, are fixed so as to exist beyond relativity and therefore change. We are who we are not because of, but in spite of, those characteristics that may serve as a misleading articulation of the self. If identity is achieved with the discovery of irreducible characteristics, then the artists in this exhibition represent a moment when those characteristics as signifiers of the self may be challenged, chosen, or changed. Depending on the circumstances, one may not be what one appears but perhaps something other, something that better expresses or represents the self.
The film and video portion of this exhibition was curated by Diana Thater.
