iNational Portrait GalleryWest End
Gillian Wearing: Spiritual Family
Free display of four self-portraits from Gillian Wearing's 'Me as…' series, in which she poses as Warhol, Arbus, Mapplethorpe and Claude Cahun.
More in London
Look closely at Diane Arbus, camera held against her chest, and the eyes aren't hers. They're Gillian Wearing's. Wearing photographed herself in lifelike masks of Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol and Claude Cahun, and Hyperallergic reported that a single silicone mask takes her about four months to make.
You walk into Room 31 on Floor 1 and find just four large black-and-white prints, taken from the 14 in her Spiritual Family series (2008 to 2013). Wearing has said of these artists: "I classify them all as my spiritual family." Four relatives she chose herself, all played by her: an easier family gathering than the one waiting for you at Christmas.
Four photographs make this a short stop, so fold it into a visit to the Gallery's collection rather than making a separate trip. Entry is free, and the display runs until 10 January 2027.
Look for
Me as Arbus
Look for Wearing in Arbus's face, holding a camera against her chest, after the well-known photograph of Arbus doing exactly that.
Me as Mapplethorpe
A head that seems to float in the dark and a hand gripping a skull-topped cane, restaged from Mapplethorpe's final self-portrait.
Me as Warhol in Drag with Scar
Wearing as Warhol in drag, baring the large scars across his torso.
Me as Cahun Holding a Mask of My Face
Wearing as Cahun, hair curled just so, holds a white, eyeless mask of her own face against a black backdrop, where Cahun's 1927 original held a fake barbell.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You want a full exhibition: this is four photographs in a single room.
Also at National Portrait Gallery
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Gillian Wearing: Spiritual FamilyGillian Wearing ('Me as Warhol in Drag with Scar'), by Gillian Wearing, 2010, NPG P2104 © Gillian Wearing, courtesy Maureen Paley, London, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Regen Projects, Los Angeles
- Renoir and LoveCourtesy of National Gallery
- Yinka Shonibare and Thomas Gainsborough: A ConversationCourtesy of National Gallery
- Art deco: the golden age of poster designCourtesy of London Transport Museum
- National Portrait GalleryIstvánka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- National GalleryCarlos Delgado / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- London Transport MuseumColin Park / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Courtauld GalleryAnthony O'Neil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Churchill War RoomsJenny Poole / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0