Me as Arbus
Me as Arbus
Me as Arbus
By Gillian Wearing
Me as Arbus
Me as Arbus
Me as Arbus

The (self-)portrait plays a central role in Gillian Wearing’s work, and one of her methods is to create self-portraits as a different person. For her series Album (2003), for example, she portrayed herself as members of her immediate family, using masks as an aid. The portrait Me as Arbus shows the artist as one of her great precursors: the famous American photographer Diane Arbus. For Wearing, in addition to a tribute, this work is also a game with the truth (What do we see?) and with social identity (Who am I?).