Heads that want to see heads primarily look at other heads that want to see heads: an exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery in London often resembles an art installation about the impossibility of looking at portraits today. Ultimately, it’s about artistically reproduced faces of those who are absent. (Of course it’s also about bodies, gestures, setting and the like, but essentially it’s about the faces.) However, large numbers of those present always push in front of them. One could also say that the genre obviously enjoys incredible popularity, especially when the National Portrait Gallery is showing an exhibition of portraits of David Hockney, who can now be seen as a British folk hero.
Portraits of David Hockney in the National Portrait Gallery: Popular Image Genre – Culture
