ARTWORK > Portrait

There are many reasons artists have used the portrait as a means of expression throughout history but Keyes is most interested in the cognitive impression left after seeing the work. What is the image in our mind before we consider the idea behind the work? Is it a copy of what our eyes perceive in the world? What does the brain actually “see”? Keyes work proposes that the brain creates collections of layered images over time, not individual snapshots of moments like a camera. When we think of a person it’s not a static, flat impression. We live in time and space, always moving, always inputting new data. And this data is never objective, it’s not a collection of precisely copied information; it’s as imperfect as our memory.

The genesis of this project was the Chuck Close catalog Keyes photographed in 1998 for his Collective Memory series. What emerged in that multiple exposure image were two portraits representing Close’ body of work. In creating the Portrait work, Keyes chose artists because of their potential to influence his thinking about art and portraiture. He sourced the images from books and the Internet, often after experiencing these artists work in person. Using these same original source materials, Keyes chose images he thought would create an overall portrait reflecting each artist’s portrait work. The resulting digitally layered images condense those many individual works in an effort to portray what the mind actually sees over time.

Alex Katz
Pigment Print
31x25
2014
Chuck Close Portrait
Pigment Print
30x25
2014
Thomas Ruff portrait
Pigment Print
12x9
2014
Cindy Sherman Portrait
Pigment Print
21x16
2014
Nick Cave portrait
Pigment Print
32x25
2014
Warhol portrait
Pigment Print
32x32
2012
Frida Kahlo portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2012
Chuck Close Portrait
Pigment Print
30x25
2014
Roni Horn portrait
Pigment Print
12.5x10
2014
Fruits portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2014
Humans of New York portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2014
Sartorialist portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2012
Richard Avedon portrait
Pigment Print
21x16
2010
Picasso portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2014
Madonna and Child portrait
Pigment Print
17x12
2014
Steve McCurry portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2014
Leonardo Da Vinci portrait
Pigment Print
20x14
2012
Rembrandt portrait
Pigment Print
24x18
2014
Martin Schoeller portrait
Pigment Print
37x30
2014
Mug Shots portrait
Pigment Print
12x18 (12x9 ea)
2014
Kim Kardashian portrait
Pigment Print
8x6
2014
Hummel figurines portrait
Pigment Print
20x15
2014