The Edward Thorp Gallery will present About Face – a large group exhibit examining the theme of portraiture. Featuring a selection of works in various media including painting, sculpture, photography and drawing, the exhibit will examine some of the differing motives and perspectives that are revealed while observing the human image.

Since the earliest of times artists have used representation to explore fundamental themes of our existence. A face encapsulates a personal experience but it can also reflect the concerns and attitudes of its era. Through acute observations and a distinctive capacity for empathy with their subject a deeper understanding of the human psyche is revealed, creating images that merge individual histories with a collective dialogue.

Through the range of mediums and movements presented from Expressionism to Pop to Realism to Self-Taught Artists to Ethnographic and Tribal Materials to the Decorative Arts, this exhibit will reflect on a multitude of approaches through psychological studies, self-portraits, objet d’art and commercial design, works alluding to our presence in the world, imagining both time and setting, while exploring within and flouting the historical canon of portraiture.

Among artists to be included are George Grosz, Karl Hagenauer, Alice Neel, David Hockney, Peter Saul, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, John Graham, Arshile Gorky, Andy Warhol, Saul Steinberg, Alfred Henry Maurer, Jon Serl, Saul Leiter, and Margaret Watkins.