London’s Saatchi Gallery Staging an Exhibit Honoring the Selfie

January 29, 2017 5:00 am
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Chuck Close, 'Big Self-Portrait,' 1967-68; Acrylic on canvas (© Chuck Close/Courtesy Pace Gallery)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Juno Calypso, ‘Honeymoon Suite,’ 2015; Archival pigment print (Courtesy of the artist and TJ Boulting Gallery)

 

Think you’re the Pablo Picasso of selfies? We have some good news for you: The Saatchi Gallery in London is curating a selfie-centric art exhibit and wants to add yours into the mix.

Set to open in March 30, the exhibit, entitled From Selfie to Self-Expression, will feature a number of well-known artists and photographers who kicked off the age of the selfie (before there was even a word for it). These include the bandaged-ear self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh; the mirror-reflection of Diego Velázquez in his famous painting Las Meninas; and contemporary shots featuring Hillary Clinton, late Beatle George Harrison, and former president Barack Obama.

Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Hillary Clinton group selfie (© Barbara Kinney/Hillary for America)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Barack Obama, taking a selfie with the Danish prime minister (Courtesy Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Regarding the contest, the gallery notes that “entries must take the form of a photographic selfie,” and hopes that entrants will “take the selfie in exciting new directions.” Ten selfies will be shortlisted by a panel of judges and experts (no word on who these folks will be yet; likely neither Kim Kardashian nor Ellen DeGeneres), and the grand-prize winner will get his or her selfie into the actual exhibit, along with a “photographic experience” prize package (at press time, there is no information on that either).

The winner will be announced at the show’s opening on March 30, and the show itself will run only through May 30, so make sure to get selfie-ing. For more on the exhibit and to browse some of the current entries, click here. Below, take a look at some more famous selfies that the gallery will be including in its exhibit.

Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch jumps behind U2 at the 86th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California (Courtesy Mike Blake/Reuters)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
George Harrison Taj Mahal Self- Portrait, 1966 (© Harrison Family)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Chuck Close, ‘Big Self-Portrait,’ 1967-68; Acrylic on canvas (© Chuck Close/Courtesy Pace Gallery)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Tracey Emin, ‘I’ve Got It All,’ 2000; C-Print (Tracey Emin/All rights reserved, DACS 2016/Image courtesy of the White Cube)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Frida Kahlo, ‘Self-Portrait With Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird,’ 1940; Oil on canvas on Masonite (Courtesy Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./DACS/Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Diego Velazquez, ‘Las Meninas,’ c. 1656; Oil on canvas (© Museo Nacional del Prado)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Rembrandt van Rijn, ‘Self-Portrait with Two Circles,’ c. 1665-69; Oil on canvas (Courtesy Kenwood House, Iveagh Bequest/English Heritage)
Selfie Exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London
Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Self-portrait with bandaged ear,’ 1889; Oil on canvas (© The Samuel Courtauld Trust/The Courtauld Gallery, London)

—RealClearLife Staff

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