The Skin We Live In: Portraits from the NGCA Collection at NGCA
Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor
The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA) opens The Skin We Live In: Portraits from the NGCA Collection, a group show exploring contemporary portraiture in unexpected ways.
The exhibition brings together 28 artists who work across photography, painting, sculpture, film and printmaking. While their focus is to record humans, capturing likeness is not a priority – The Skin We Live In reveals different approaches to portraiture which delve into the human condition and shared experiences rather than spotlighting individual perspectives.
In some ways, the display rebels against traditional rules of portraiture, going against a long history of recording the sitters’ appearance in paint or ink. Indeed, for centuries portraiture was the domain of wealthier classes, resulting in flattering representations featuring attributes of power and strength – The Skin We Live In challenges these portrayals in contemporary terms, focusing on the collective rather than the individual.
Many of the works give a voice to marginalised communities and unveil the more complex human experiences such as loss and isolation, sexuality or loneliness. The sitter’s face is often obscured or out of focus, while the body becomes an important part of the composition, with clothes, background and colour all becoming an important part of the artworks’ message.
Highlights include Joanna Piotrowska’s experimental photos of the domestic sphere through staged scenes, Natasha Caruana’s narratives of love and betrayal and Seb Trend’s textured, semi-abstract pieces.
Other artists in the show are Samsul Alam Helal, Sophie Lisa Beresford, Jeffrey Dennis, Graham Dolphin, Benedict Drew, Chris Harrison, Alice Hawkins, John Kippin & Nicola Neate, Clarita Lulic, Ian Macdonald, Daniel Meadows, James O Jenkins, Vinca Petersen, Mark Pinder, Marjolaine Ryley, Simon Senn, Daniel Silver, Jade Sweeting, Walker & Bromwich, Jhanee Wilkins, Johannah Churchill, Michael Daglish and Janina Sabaliauskaitė.
The Skin We Live In: Portraits from the NGCA Collection is the inaugural exhibition of artwork from NGCA’s collection.
