The Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting 'Before You Now: Capturing the Self in Portraiture,' an exhibition drawn from LACMA's collection that explores self-portraiture through over 50 contemporary American artists working in photography, prints, drawings, video, and installation. The show includes a video series featuring artists like Jessica Wimbley, who discusses her work 'Cabinet Portrait: Wife Portrait' (2022), a large-scale reimagining of a 19th-century cabinet card bridal portrait that centers Blackness in American material culture by depicting herself in a non-traditional black wedding dress. The exhibition runs through August 30, 2025, with a related collage workshop led by Kalli Arte Collective on August 23.
This exhibition matters because it offers a timely, museum-curated survey of how contemporary American artists use self-portraiture to assert identity, challenge historical conventions, and expand representation. By juxtaposing historical photographic formats with contemporary practices, the show highlights ongoing conversations about race, gender, and visibility in visual culture, while LACMA's video portraits provide deeper insight into individual artistic processes. The inclusion of community programming like the Kalli Arte Collective workshop underscores the museum's commitment to engaging diverse audiences with the themes of self-representation.