Curatorial Projects > Copycat (2019)

Nina Katchadourian
Lavatory Self-Portrait in the Flemish Style #10 from the series Seat Assignment, 2010-ongoing
Color photograph
Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery

While in an airplane lavatory on a 14-hour flight in 2011, Nina Katchadourian spontaneously put a paper toilet seat cover over her head and took a picture in the mirror using her cellphone. Realizing that it evoked 15th century Flemish portraiture, she decided to take advantage of the long flight to create more images in this style. After several trips to the lavatory, using her thin black scarf as a backdrop, paper towels, and other personal accessories, Katchadourian created the first works in the Seat Assignment series, Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. As seen in this exhibition, these groups of photographs are framed and displayed upon a deep red wall, similar to how Flemish portraiture would be shown in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Copycat

September 21 – October 31, 2019
Fine Arts Gallery at San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA