Eye Contact

Exhibition Info
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Curated by
Jodi Throckmorton, Curator of Contemporary Art
All eyes are on you in the Salon Gallery this summer as we feature figurative works from 20th and 21st-century artists in conversation with our 19th-century masterpieces.

In Eye Contact, contemporary figurative paintings from PAFA's permanent collection explore the concept of the gaze, and are arranged in this installation according to the subject's gaze. Reflect upon Kukuli Velarde's unyielding stare, Judith Linhares's nude couple looking skyward, or Barkley L. Hendricks's use of sunglasses to deny eye contact.

The concept of the gaze was developed by feminist film theorists in the 1970s exploring the dominance of masculine, heterosexual perspectives in visual art. The artists of Eye Contact use this concept of “othering” or “male” gaze to turn the gaze back on the viewer, to their own paintings and interior thoughts, or to the 19th-century masterpieces situated on the gallery's opposing walls.

“Many of the works on display are artist self-portraits—a strength of PAFA’s collection,” said Jodi Throckmorton, PAFA’s Curator of Contemporary Art. “The artists are making a statement about portraiture—how we see and judge ourselves and each other.

News and Press

Contemporary exhibition challenges the concept of the male gaze

Eye Contact, on view through September 15th in the Salon Gallery, is an exportation of contemporary figure paintings and takes on the concept of the gaze.

Making "Eye Contact"

It might feel like you’re being watched in the Salon Gallery this summer. That's because PAFA's current exhibition of contemporary self-portraits by artists, "Eye Contact," explores how we see, judge ourselves to each other, and take control of a theoretical artistic concept known as gaze.

Contemporary Works On View This Summer at PAFA

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has several new acquisitions and contemporary works from the permanent collection on view this summer in the Historic Landmark Building. Artists featured in PAFA's summer curatorial programming include Barkley L. Hendricks, Wangechi Mutu, Jeffrey Stockbridge, Chitra Ganesh, and Bill Viola.