FACE : THE NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT
EWING, WILLIAM A.
Exploring bold new strategies of representation computer manipulation, retouching, photomontage, found imagery and methods of veiling and disguising the artists here present provocative faces to the world that are sometimes alluring, sometimes touching, sometimes frightening, but never less than riveting.
Whether Gillian Wearings masked self-portrait, Aziz + Cuchers neutral façades, Lawick Müllers composite portrait of a couple, Cindy Shermans disquieting disguises or Orlans disturbing experiments with cosmetic surgery, these faces demand our attention.
William A. Ewing is Director of the Musée de lElysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, the world-renowned museum of photography. He is the author of more than a dozen books on diverse aspects of photography and the curator of a number of international exhibitions on the themes of the body and the face.
Nathalie Herschdorfer is an Associate Curator at the Musée de lElysée, Lausanne. An art historian specializing in the history of photography, she has co-curated several major international photography exhibitions.