How does an image turn a person into something larger than themselves?
Are you famous—or almost? Join us as we examine what portraiture means today and explore the role images play in transforming the unknown into the renowned. Thirteen artists, ranging from the famous Annie Leibovitz to the almost famous Modern Man of Fargo, inquire into the process of fame using an array of media from photography to portraits made from seeds and from ceramic plates to a dazzling, simultaneous display of 3,000 internet video diaries.
Through the work of these artists, Individual to Icon contemplates how and why people become transformed into icons and how portraiture imbues the “almost famous” with iconic status. In some cases, today’s icons are exemplary people that many admire and emulate. Others act as cautionary figures in a rogues’ gallery. Figures of both saints and sinners offer lessons by which to steer and gauge our own behavior, appearance, goals, and values.
Organized by Plains Art Museum. Curated by Colleen Sheehy, Director and CEO, Plains Art Museum, with catalogue essays by Dr. Sheehy and Karal Ann Marling, professor emeritus of Art history and American studies, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.
left: Alec Soth, Adelyn, Ash Wednesday, New Orleans, 2002, c-print, Loaned by the artist
right: Kehinde Wiley, Entry into Paris of the Dauphin, 2005, oil on canvas, Loaned by Julie and Bennett Roberts, Los Angeles, CA
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