Jennifer Moon, You can kill my body, but you can't kill my soul, 2013. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection, © Jennifer Moon, courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, photo by Patrick Connor.
June 21 – August 30, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 21, 2024, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Please note: The museum will be closed during regular operating hours on Saturday, June 21 in preparation for the exhibition’s opening reception.
Organized as part of LACMA’s Art Bridges Initiative, 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. Before You Now was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College; Riverside Art Museum; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College; Riverside Art Museum; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; and California State University, Northridge, Art Galleries.
Local Access is a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by LACMA as part of the Art Bridges Initiative.
All exhibitions at the Vincent Price Art Museum are underwritten by the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation and East Los Angeles College.