CELEBRITIES OF THE SELF
Tim Lee
Michael Markowsky
Shannon Oksanen
Kathy Slade
Dan Starling
Althea Thauberger
Weekend Leisure
Central Gallery
January 18 to March 22, 2009
In a world of high-speed file sharing and endless “top ranked” still and moving images, the 15 minutes of fame that Andy Warhol once promised us may have arrived in democratic spirit, but it has done so in a fleeting way that even he could not have anticipated. At this moment of the instantaneous star, today’s visual artists are re-examining the notion of celebrity and the iconic moments of the past through the changing visual habits of the present. The exhibition Celebrities of the Self presents artworks in which the self is constantly under a process of redefinition through the picturing of famous and/or notorious individuals. The exhibition features a variety of artworks that represent figures, personas and icons of popular media history in a manner that foregrounds the role that digital reproduction plays in the intense subjectivity of the fan. The exhibition includes work by Tim Lee, Michael Markowsky, Shannon Oksanen, Kathy Slade, Dan Starling, Althea Thauberger, and Weekend Leisure.
Althea Thauberger
Chelsea Girls (still), 2006
16mm twin projection
Collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
