SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Before You Now LACMA curators Eve Schillo and Claudine Dixon will lead a curatorial discussion with participating artists Jennifer Moon and Minna Philips. This talk will guide guests through the exhibition’s central themes: Claiming, Crafting, Clowning, Convening, Conceptualizing, Camouflaging, and Concluding.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Before You Now focuses on the enduring themes of the artist’s self-portrait, as seen in a selection of works from LACMA’s collections of photographs, prints, drawings, videos, and installation art. Primarily featuring contemporary makers, the exhibition is an introduction to seeing American artists as they see themselves—or as they want to be seen by their public. They are shown contemplating their physicality in realistic fashion, highlighting their persona through symbolic tropes, or utilizing humor or conceptual methods to enlighten, exaggerate, or camouflage their reflective selves. Over 50 artists—including Laura Aguilar, Kwame Brathwaite, Kalli Arte Collective, Jennifer Moon, Roger Shimomura, Cindy Sherman, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and June Wayne—display an ongoing fascination with, or return to, the self-portrait. Before You Now aims to broaden the topic to include many whose practice leans into an autobiographical narrative, and explores artists who are adding to and redefining our culture by expanding on ideas of identity.