Human Sculptures

The Icons collection consists of 24 depictions of 20th century historical figures, past and present, from Sigmund Freud to Iggy Pop.  Created by artist Lou Rie, each avatar is a living sculpture, a handmade portrait modeled on top of a real person, who “inhabits” the subject, adding a mysterious internal presence.  The artist’s goal is to capture the essence of the subject.

The result is 3 series of 8 portraits by turns beautiful and grotesque, humorous and frightening.  They can bring to mind the satirical caricatures of German Expressionists like George Grosz and Otto Dix.  In our selfie culture, we see mostly what people and the media want to project, but these portraits give us some insight into their true identity.