Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Kalamazoo, MI

616-349-7775

http://www.kiarts.org



 

Complementary Portrait Shows at Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

The Self as Subject

August 19 - October 8, 2000

Portraits from the Permanent Collection

August 26 - October 1, 2000

 

On view now is the exhibition The Self as Subject, which contains self-portraits by Michigan artist Kenneth Freed as well as a collection of self-portraits from the Permanent Collection. In addition, there is the related exhibit Portraits from the Permanent Collection.

The Self as Subject includes 17 works by Freed. All are paintings apart from the earliest work, a pencil drawing done in 1976. The exhibit spans 25 years of self-portraits, the majority created from 1987 to the present. Complementing Freed's exhibit are self-portraits drawn from the KIA's Permanent Collection. (left: Mauricio Lasansky (b. 1914), Self Portrait, 1965, etching, 1966/7.16)

Commenting on two very large paintings from The Self as Subject, both of which contain multiple images, Freed states, "'Excavations -- Double Self-Portrait,' which took about six months of working time to finish last year, is sort of allegorical, referring to when I was younger, during the early 1970s. There are three different images in the painting from that time. The other large-scale work, 'Reluctant to Play the Game,' was completed this year. It's also allegorical, but deals with the present."

Freed adds, "The most recent work in the show is a tribute to the lace artist Gregory Gillespie, who was a mentor and friend. His self-portraits had an enormous influence on me."

Freed has included his memorial painting "Be Tender, We are all Flesh and Bone," and has dedicated his portion of The Self as Subject exhibit to Gillespie.

Portraits from the Permanent Collection addresses the general subject of portraiture and presents a wide array of paintings, drawings, photographs and prints. Artists include George Bellows, Isabel Bishop, Andy Warhol and Alex Katz. (left: Morris Broderson, Anne Frank with Diary, 1970, watercolor, pastel and pencil, PA1986/7.25)

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