RWA’s landmark reopening exhibition brings a new take on our obsession with the selfie

A landmark exhibition bringing historical context to today’s ‘selfie culture’ with an illuminating overview of 300 years of self-portraiture will launch the reopening of the RWA’s magnificent galleries following a £4.1 million transformation.

Image: RWA Tony Bevan RA (b_1951), Head and Neck © Royal Academy of Arts.

‘Me, Myself, I: Artists’ Self-Portraits’, by curator and artistic director Tessa Jackson OBE, traces the fascinating ways artists over the centuries have chosen to present and define themselves – from the highly personal and psychological to the controversial and political.

It uniquely sets the context for a specific exploration around how artists have approached self-portraiture in the last fifty years, how the genre reflects society at the time and the concerns we have been collectively engaged with. Since the 1970s, artists have explored concepts of postmodernism, globalisation and the impact of rapid developments in technology, along with debates around gender, sexuality and identity.

The exhibition also seeks to present a diverse representation of artists, and features over 80 works by artists who have all worked in or visited Great Britain, including major artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauffman, Élizabeth Louise Vigéé Le Brun, Madame Yevonde and Lucian Freud, presented alongside modern and contemporary works by artists including Grayson Perry, Sonia Boyce, Tracey Emin, Tony Bevan, Antony Gormley, Harold Offeh, Zineb Sedira and Gillian Wearing. 

Curator Tessa Jackson says: “Whilst the selfie is a relatively recent phenomenon in our visual culture, our fascination with self-representation has existed for hundreds of years in art history. Self-portraits reveal so much about the artist and how they wished to be seen, as well as the society they lived in and the preoccupations of their time. 

“Researching and compiling this exhibition has been an intriguing and personal journey for me, after decades as a museum curator involved with art, and I have come to realise that my own choices on how art reflects society have surfaced through it. The exhibition also has its own unique story to tell in the challenges of trying to curate it during the course of the Covid pandemic and the impact that has had on the resulting collection of artworks it features.

“I’m thrilled that the exhibition will be the first one to take place in the stunning and newly transformed galleries of the RWA, following the completion of the most significant refurbishment of the building in over a hundred years. I hope that it will play its part in encouraging greater and more diverse audiences to the galleries, welcoming returning visitors and new ones to enjoy the exhibition and spark thought and discussion.”

The exhibition will run from 2 May – 19 June 2022 across all of the RWA’s main gallery spaces. Tickets are on sale for the exhibition now at rwa.org.uk/whatson.*

It will be the first exhibition following the completion of the £4.1m ‘Light and Inspiration’ capital project, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and other generous supporters, to transform the Grade II listed building into the most accessible gallery anywhere from London to St Ives.

The redevelopment is delivering urgent repairs to save it from risk of permanent closure and bringing a number of major improvements, including free to access galleries on all three floors, a huge new lift to carry four wheelchair users and their carers, a new wheelchair-accessible toilet and Changing Places facility, a quiet room for visitors with sensory requirements or autism, a Family Activity Space, a new café and outdoor events space.