Freshmen Jenna Sierra (left) and Karla Correa test out the new selfie stations posted around the Museum of Fine Art’s new exhibit “This Is Not A Selfie.” Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Whitney Elfstrom
We live in the “Age of the Selfie.”
Many of us take hundreds of snapshots of our faces before we pick the perfect one to post on Snapchat or Instagram, but amid instant gratification, the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr NE, is getting back to the basics of self-portraits with its new exhibit “This Is Not A Selfie.”
“In some ways a selfie is a subset of a self-portrait, it’s a kind of self-portrait,” said Robin Odell, the museum curator of photographic collections. “The premise of the exhibition is that a self-portrait, in the hands of an artist, is a different thing and it transcends just the image.”
The exhibit, which is on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, features 80 photographs from 66 artists from the personal collection of Audrey and Sydney Irmas, who started collecting self-portraits in the early 1980s.
The artwork tackles “themes of self-reflection, performance and identity while blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy, artifice and authenticity, and public and private imagery,” according to the museum representatives.
Odell said the exhibit takes a deeper look at the way self-portraits have evolved over 150 years and almost dates back to the beginning of photography, which was invented in 1839 by William Henry Fox Talbot, with its display of Alphonse-Louis Poitevin’s 1853 self-portrait.
“It’s interesting to think that since the very beginning photographers have been doing self-portraits. It didn’t very long before people started pointing (the camera) toward themselves,” she said.
Jenna Sierra, a freshman political science major, checked out the exhibit on a whim after hearing the museum offered $5 tickets after 5 p.m. on Thursdays. She pointed out that selfies are normally taken in a split second, but the photos shown throughout “This Is Not A Selfie” come with a purpose and a message.
The photos throughout the exhibit are more than just simple snapshots of an artist’s face, according to Odell, many of the pieces are elaborately designed and orchestrated productions.
“Therein lies the interest to see how different people express themselves and their ideas in different ways,” she said.
For example, ORLAN’s “Holy Shroud #3” is a photo transferred to gauze imbued with blood and then lit up on a Plexiglas light box. The piece is a part of a larger series called “The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan” and explores ORLAN’s quest to adopt physical characteristics of muses through through history.
Selfie stations are featured throughout the exhibit to help guests venture into the minds of the artists and explore their respective photographs.The stations are the brainchild of Odell and Jorge Vidal, who specifically chose works that would inspire museum goers to create interesting photographs that go beyond selfies.
“It is our goal that people will learn, but also that it’s really fun and people will enjoy coming to not just see, but also to interact,” Odell said.
Interested?
“This Is Not A Selfie” will be at the Museum of Fine Arts through Nov. 25. The exhibit is included
In regular admission to the museum. Four community events will also take place in relation to the exhibit:
Sept. 6: Film and discussion – Ingrid Goes West at 7 p.m.
Sept. 16: Gallery Talk – Selfie, Selfie, Selfie, on the Wall at 3 p.m.
Oct. 25: Gallery Talk – Really! This is (So) Not A Selfie! With Eve Schillo, assistant curator at Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Nov. 8: Film – Ego Symposion (2016) by exhibition artist Yasumasa Morimura
Tickets are $15 with a student I.D. or $5 after 5 p.m. on Thursday. 255 Beach Dr. NE; (727) 896-2667; mfastpete.org
