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Mirrors & Masks: Reflections and Constructions of the Self

Sigmund Abeles (born 1934), NL/SA, Couple, Fits like a Glove, 1999

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Mirrors & Masks: Reflections and Constructions of the Self
Opening Hours
March 23 – June 4, 2017
11am – 4:30pm daily

"MIRRORS AND MASKS: Reflections and Constructions of the Self", organized by 11 student curators in a year-long 360˚ course cluster, considers the role of mirrors, masks, makeup, and masquerade in explorations of the self. This exhibition includes more than 50 works from the College’s Art & Artifacts Collection, including actual mirrors and masks, as well as works on paper, photographs, paintings, and textiles across the centuries and cultures represented in the Collection.

This exhibition, as well as its catalogue and programs, are supported by the Friends of the Bryn Mawr College Library, the Office of the Provost and its 360˚ program, Library and Information Technology Services (LITS) and its department of Special Collections and program in Museum Studies, as well as the department of History of Art.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. VIEW MORE INFORMATION.

Mariam Coffin Canaday Library
Class of 1912 Rare Book Room

Bryn Mawr College
101 N Merion Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
(610) 526-5276

View Hours for Canaday Library.
Exhibition

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR

When we look into a mirror, what do we see? Gazing at our reflection transforms us into images. Only our external appearance is visible in the mirror, while all the complexities of human thought and interiority may remain beneath the surface. Many artists, in their own self-portraits, make use of the mirror's flattening effect. Yet the mirror image is not static. It poses the challenge of drawing a dynamic, living self always in flux. In this interaction between artist and reflection, the artist negotiates between image and interiority.

SELF-REFLECTIONS
“The mirror bids us examine our defects by knowing ourselves.” - Cesare Ripa, Iconologia (1593)

As Ripa indicates, the mirror has been conceived as a tool for understanding the self. It sets the stage for introspection and self-reflection. But such uses of the mirror are culturally and historically specific. Mirrors are used across time and place for distinct purposes and to sometimes contradictory ends. What can we understand about ourselves by consulting our reflections?

COSTUMING AS SELF-FASHIONING

How do we choose what to wear? Is this choice entirely free? Whether it is selecting what to wear in the morning or dancing a mask as part of a cultural rite of passage, we fashion ourselves in relation to our social world. Dressing up in costumes or masks might allow us to perform our sense of self differently, disrupting the assumption of a singular self and demonstrating the performative nature of selfhood.

PERFORMING IDENTITY

Is your sense of self, your identity reducible to your appearance? Sometimes we assume we can know something about people based upon their appearance. Do we use appearances to gender or racialize bodies? These artists use masks or mirrors to resist the ease with which we might interpret appearances as gendered or racialized identities.
Events
Exhibition Opening/Masquerade Party
Thursday, March 23rd, 4:30-7:30 pm
Canaday Library Rare Book Room

Artist Lecture Series
Sigmund Abeles
Friday, March 24th, 12pm
Canaday Library Rare Book Room

Rachel Bliss
Friday, April 14th , 3-4pm
Canaday Library Rare Book Room

Jessica Todd Harper
Saturday, March 27th, 8:45 am
Canaday Library Rare Book Room

Guided Public Tours
Women and the Mirror
Thursday, March 30th at 4pm

Costume and Performance
Tuesday, April 11th at 1pm

Creating the Bryn Mawr Woman
Friday, April 21st at 3pm

Accepted Students Tour
Sunday, April 23rd at 3pm

Alumnae Tour
Alumnae Weekend, May 26th-28th