Saturday, June 19, 2010

Self-Portraits

It's taken me quite a while to post something to this blog, but here, finally, is my first post, in honor of my birthday: some drawings inspired by one of my favorite artists, Adrian M. S. Piper, who throughout her long, rich and amazing career has repeatedly explored the intersections of philosophy, conceptualism, race, gender, and class.  In 1981, as part of a series of works relating her readings of the concept of the "indexical present" to racism and racial stereotyping, she created the drawing "Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features" (at right, 1981 (pencil on paper, 20.3 x 25.4 cm). Collection of Eileen Harris Norton, from Wikipedia.com).

In femmage to Piper, here's my own playful take on self-portraiture, occasioned by my birthday (all images 2010, digital drawings on iPhone, Collectcion of the artist, copyright © John Keene, 2010. All rights reserved).

iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Roman Catholic Upbringing
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Working-Class Roots
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Ivy League Education
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My "Alternate Lifestyle" and "Sexual Preference"
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Past and Current Employment Status
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Irish Ancestry
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Sero and Domestic Status
iPhone sketch, Self-Portrait w/o Looking in a Mirror
Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Cosmopolitan Affinities