Looking for the Face I Had Before the World Was Made

Looking for the Face I Had Before the World Was Made explored how depicting the human figure can offer something more consequential than a simple catalogue of physical features. Each artist in the exhibition was interested in telling human stories while de-emphasizing the likeness of a person. Using a wide variety of styles, the artists were joined by an interest in creating a sense of a phenomenon deeper than the surface image, capturing a presence prior to the appearance of the fully formed individual. The line “Looking for the face I had before the world was made,” is a quote from the late poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats from his poem A Woman Young and Old. It can be understood as either a statement of faith or a philosophical riddle related to the formation of the self.

The exhibition included artwork by Samuel Beckett (b. 1906, Foxrock, Ireland), A.G. Rizzoli (b. 1896, Marin County, California), Michael Borremans (b. 1963, Geraardsbergen, Belgium), Eric and Heather ChanSchatz (b. 1968, Tokyo, Japan & b. 1968, Dallas, Texas), and Lorraine O'Grady (b. 1934, Boston, Massachusetts).