This exhibition showcases self –portraits from the New Zealand Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.  A self-portrait is the artist depicting him or herself. The classic self-portrait pose, the artist at work with paint brush in hand can be seen in the paintings by Beverley Shore-Bennett and Susan Wilson. However, artists also capture themselves to highlight a moment in time. Nick Cuthell’s self-portrait depicts himself and his arrival in London while John Badcock’s Self-Portrait 6-2-11 was painted in one day on a whim. 

Artists often place clues to their personalities within the depictions of themselves and Nigel Brown’s Self-Portrait with Hat is a perfect example of this as he surrounds himself with a number of objects.

A self-portrait is the ultimate study of one’s self, and the intense concentration of capturing the depiction is often captured within the image but the viewer can be left wondering if the artist is looking at themselves or the viewer.