Face-to-Face, from the National Portrait Gallery

Selena, Portrait in a Minute: Guest presenter Alina Collins Maldonado, Head of Education at the Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C., discusses a 1993 photograph of Selena by Al Rendon. Known as the "queen of Tejano music," Selena Quintanilla-Pérez brought wide recognition to this South Texas blend of Mexican and American musical styles. Her powerful voice made her the idol of fans on both sides of the border. Wearing a bustier, tight pants, and a pouting smile, Selena set a new standard for Latin beauty, and her self-confidence on stage brought comparisons with Madonna. In 1990 she released Ven Conmigo, the first Tejano album by a female artist to go gold, and soon she had her own clothing line and national product endorsements. She won a Grammy Award in 1993, but her life ended tragically two years later, when a former president of her fan club shot and killed her. Selena’s death at age twenty-three caused a huge outpouring of grief, and her legend then converged with the rising stardom of fellow Latina singer Jennifer Lopez, who gave a strong performance in her first leading role in Selena (1997).

Lucretia Mott, Daguerreotype Portrait: Ann Shumard, Senior Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, discusses an 1851 daguerreotype portrait of Lucretia Coffin Mott. Lucretia Mott's commitment to ending slavery and securing rights for women became the defining features of her life. A devout Quaker whose activism proved unsettling to some members of her faith, Mott assumed a highly visible role in the abolitionist movement. After joining William Lloyd Garrison at the launch of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, she helped to found Philadelphia's Female Anti-Slavery Society. Her concern for women's rights was a natural outgrowth of her abolitionist efforts, and in 1848. Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the convention at Seneca Falls, New York, that gave birth to the women's suffrage movement.

Artist Bo Gehring discusses his 2014 portrait of Esperanza Spalding. The video portrait, commissioned for the museum from 2013 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition winner Bo Gehring, will be exhibited in the museum in May 2015. The full video portrait can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/jKEu1Qb4OWM "This commission of Esperanza Spalding by Bo Gehring is the fifth digital video portrait to enter into the National Portrait Gallery's growing collection of time-based media art" said Kim Sajet, director of the museum. To create a work, Gehring plays a piece of music of his sitter's choosing while he or she lies on a low table. A camera, suspended overhead on a track, begins at the feet and slowly moves up the body to reveal the subject's face. The motion of the computer-controlled camera is exactly synchronized to the person'sheight and the duration of his or her chosen music. The integral role of music in his portraits made Spalding, a bassist, vocalist and composer,an ideal candidate for the commissioned work. Spalding chose Wayne Shorter's "Tarde" from the 1974 album Native Dancer to be part of her portrait.In the track, Shorter plays tenor saxophone, vocals are by Milton Nascimento, Herbie Hancock is on the electric piano, David Amaro is on guitar, David McDaniel plays bass, and Roberto Silva plays the drums. Spalding says this piece of music is important because, "Herbie, Wayne and Milton are part of me." ---- Esperanza Spalding, a portrait. By Bo Gehring, 2014. Esperanza's chosen music "Tarde" (1974) used with the kind permission of Wayne Shorter.

The National Portrait Gallery's Warren Perry discusses an 1866 painting of William Tecumseh Sherman by George Peter Alexander Healy. "War is war and not popularity-seeking." With these words to his Confederate opponent at Atlanta, General William T. Sherman suggested the attitude that made him both a successful commander and a bitterly hated figure in the South. He stripped war of glory and chivalry. His destructive march through Georgia and his later campaign in the Carolinas dismantled the economic base of the Confederacy and shattered the morale of its citizens. His methods anticipated twentieth-century "total war." Influenced perhaps by Sherman's reputation for severe tactics in the field, artist G. P. A. Healy once noted that he found the Union general a forbidding portrait subject at first. But as the posing progressed, he found the general quite friendly.

"Out of Many, One" was commissioned by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and created by Cuban American urban artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada. This giant portrait was placed temporarily on the National Mall from Oct. 4 through Oct. 31, 2014. For the work titled "Out of Many, One," the English translation of E pluribus unum, Rodriguez-Gerada is using dozens of images of people photographed in Washington, D.C., to create a composite portrait that will be an interactive walk-through experience for visitors and also be viewable from the newly reopened Washington Monument. The work is so large it is also visible via satellite. The project covers 6 acres and falls midway between the World War II and Lincoln memorials along the south side of the Reflecting Pool. "Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's work demonstrates that the art of portraiture knows no boundaries," said Kim Sajet, director of the Portrait Gallery. "Who we are, how we perceive others, those we recognize and those we place in high esteem constantly shifts over time. Portraits and the people they represent can be as big as we are willing to imagine." Rodriguez-Gerada has translated his drawing into a digital format incorporating parallel lines. Currently each line is being drawn out using TopCon high-precision satellite navigation receivers on the ground. The image is created using different colors of dirt and sand based on these lines. The GPS technology allows the artist to place the large-scale image at the location with high resolution and precision. "This portrait, a stunning compilation of American faces, reflects the unique composition of the National Mall's 29 million annual visitors and honors the legacy of diversity that has made this park—and our country—so great," said Caroline Cunningham, president of the Trust for the National Mall. The installation began in September 2014 and was completed by October 1, 2014. The project required approximately 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 wooden pegs and 8 miles of string. At the conclusion of the temporary exhibition, the high-quality sand and dirt was tilled back into the soil to help the National Park Service as they move forward with the next phase of turf restoration on the National Mall. The sand-soil composition will leave the grounds in better condition than when the project began. "'Out of Many, One' reflects what the National Mall stands for—democracy, diversity and freedom of expression," said National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Bob Vogel. "It will provide visitors with a unique national park experience and, in keeping with our mission, will improve the soil for better turf in the future. These benefits would not be possible without this unique partnership." Rodríguez-Gerada, born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey since the age of 3, has worked in this style of urban portraiture since 2002. His art aims to create a dialogue about the concept of identity, and it questions the role models who are chosen to represent people in the public sphere. These works have no negative environmental impact and are created to poetically blend back into the land. All of Rodríguez-Gerada's large-scale "facescapes" can be seen from space and are part of his TERRESTRIAL series; this is the first placed in the United States. Others have been created in Barcelona, Spain; Amsterdam; and Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A recap of 2014, so far, at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story. Music: "Kicks" by Sycamore Drive From Free Music Archive (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/sycamore_drive) Used via Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License

The National Portrait Gallery's Warren Perry discusses an 1863 sculpture of Benjamin Butler by Edward Augustus Brackett,. Benjamin Franklin Butler was a Democratic politician in military garb fighting a Republican war, and he sorely tried the patience of Lincoln and his advisers. His heavy-handed administration of the military district of New Orleans in 1862 was especially controversial. Butler was accused of everything from issuing orders designed to harass female secessionists to pilfering the silver spoons from the house he occupied. In the summer of 1864, Butler wrote his wife asking if she wanted to see him. If so, he continued, "Do the next best thing-send down to Brackett and get the marble bust he has done." Filmed at NPG, February 2014. Benjamin Franklin Butler / Edward Augustus Brackett / White marble, 1863 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Children of Oakes and Blanche Ames

Interview with Vincent Giarrano, whose work "City Girl" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu Vincent Giarrano writes: My work is about real life experience, painting the beauty that I find in contemporary life. I combine classic and contemporary elements to reflect history and also what life is like now. This is present in the subjects I paint as well as how I've chosen to paint them. My subject for this piece is Amanda Leigh Dunn, a stylish young woman living in New York City. I wanted my painting to resonate as a sincere representation of her lifestyle and character. --- "City Girl" / Vincent Giarrano / Oil on board, 2011 / Collection of the artist Music: "Budding" by Broke for Free: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Gold_Can_Stay/Broke_For_Free_-_Gold_Can_Stay_-_01_Budding https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Interview with Katie O'Hagan, whose work "Life Raft" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu Katie O'Hagan writes: "I painted Life Raft in 2011, during a time of great personal upheaval. During this period, I came to truly understand, for the first time, the vital role that art plays in my life. As most of the solid ground I had depended on seemed to erode away, my art emerged as the only thing keeping my head above water. I woke up one morning with this image in my head. I built the raft myself and spent the next couple of months completing the painting. It's a very literal image, and I felt quite exposed and not entirely comfortable making it at first. Now I see it as something positive to come out of a bad situation. It also marked a turning point in my work, as it has led to a move toward more personal paintings, beyond the straightforward portraiture I was doing before." --- "Life Raft" / Katie O'Hagan / Oil on canvas, 2011 / Collection of the artist Music: "Budding" by Broke for Free: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Gold_Can_Stay/Broke_For_Free_-_Gold_Can_Stay_-_01_Budding. https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Interview with Jason Hanasik, whose work "Sharrod (Turn/Twirl)" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu Jason Hanasik writes: "I asked Sharrod to re-create a durational salute--something he learned at a mock boot camp during his summer vacation--for my video camera one winter afternoon. He agreed and stood, staring forward, saluting a superior 'ghost' for the better part of twenty minutes. At the end of the take, exhausted and fatigued, Sharrod turned slightly, while still holding the salute. I suddenly realized that my interest had more to do with the relationship of the salute to mimicry than the durational exercise. As the sun set, we did two more takes of him spinning, slowly, 360 degrees while attempting to maintain the salute." I realized somewhere between shooting and editing the footage that the military salute was, in many ways, a male equivalent of the endlessly spinning ballerina nestled in the jewelry box so many of my (female) childhood friends had sitting on their dressers. --- "Sharrod (Turn/Twirl)" / Jason Hanasik / HD video (3:14 minutes), 2011 / Collection of the artist Music: "Budding" by Broke for Free: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Gold_Can_Stay/Broke_For_Free_-_Gold_Can_Stay_-_01_Budding https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Interview with Louie Palu, whose work "Night Raid" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu Louie Palu writes: "This photograph is of a wounded Afghan soldier in a U.S. Army helicopter after a bombing during a night raid. It was made in 2010 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The first well-known photographic portraits of wounded soldiers came from the U.S. Civil War, when photography became a prominent method of informing the public about the conflict. Photographs from the Civil War have come to symbolize and teach Americans about one of the nation's most painful moments in its history. The blue color is from an emergency cabin light used at night in MEDEVAC helicopters, which are front-line air ambulances. When I first saw the image it shocked me, as a photograph allows for extended viewing and reflection on behalf of the viewer. As I came to understand the image, it seemed to evolve into a symbolic portrait of war, creating two parallel portraits in one." "Night Raid" / Louie Palu / Pigment print, 2010 / Collection of the artist. Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Gold_Can_Stay/Broke_For_Free_-_Gold_Can_Stay_-_01_Budding https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free . Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Interview with Tema Stauffer, whose work "Cathy, Market Street, Paterson, NJ" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu Tema Stauffer writes: "I first noticed Cathy standing outside the boarding house where she and her uncle currently live on Market Street. Moved by the intensity of her expression, I asked if I could photograph her standing exactly where she was at that moment. She was cautious and guarded at first, but also seemed glad to be recognized. Cathy describes her mother as Blackfoot Cherokee Indian and her father as African American. Forty-three, she has spent most of her life in Paterson. Cathy is one of many residents whom I have photographed on the streets of Paterson during the years since America's economic downturn in 2008. This series of street portraits serves as a record of a diverse population of Americans living in a historic city fraught with struggles and hardships and as a testament to the depth of human experience that is spoken through their faces." "Cathy, Market Street, Paterson, NJ" / Tema Stauffer / Digital C-print, 2011 / Collection of the artist . Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Gold_Can_Stay/Broke_For_Free_-_Gold_Can_Stay_-_01_Budding https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free . Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Interview with Jill Wissmiller, whose work "The Gilding of Lily" was selected as part of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition. More on the Portrait Competition at http://portraitcompetition.si.edu . Jill Wissmiller writes:" 'The Gilding of Lily' is a portrait experiment for Snakes, Electricity, and Scorned Women, my upcoming documentary installation that weaves Midwestern meth manufacturing, drag queens in the Dirty South, and the landscape of Las Vegas into an alternately excessive and insufficient investigation of loves gone wrong. Lily has had many a love gone wrong but she is a performer in the most extreme sense. Onlookers are often amazed by the whirlwind of color and shape she presents. She never leaves an audience waiting. Indeed, one can barely keep up. The restriction of her movement for this video portrait achingly ruminates on motion and desire. Fixed desire is the through line for much of my research and creative work, which is concentrated on nontraditional cinema spectatorship and production. I am currently writing a motion picture manifesto that calls for a strict ban on standard definition video being projected upon anything other than glitter. " "The Gilding of Lily" / Jill Wissmiller / Video projected on glitter screen (2:50 minutes), 2011 / Collection of the artist, Music: "Budding" by Broke for Free: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/ , https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free . Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Elaine de Kooning, Portrait in a Minute. The National Portrait Gallery's Warren Perry discusses a 1946 self portrait by Elaine de Kooning. As an artist and as a critic, Elaine de Kooning spanned the seemingly unbridgeable gap between abstraction and representation. In a groundbreaking 1955 essay, she argued that the battle to legitimize abstract art was won, and it was now time to stop denigrating those artists who reintroduced representational elements. A confirmed portraitist, she nonetheless infused her paintings with the energetic, gestural brushstrokes renowned in the work of her husband, Willem. As critic Valerie Petersen noted in 1962, Elaine de Kooning's portraits, exhibiting "a bold synthesis of abstract excitement and the simplicity of gesture peculiar to her subjects," were as much a part of the New York School of painting as the "housepainter's brush and oversized canvases." Filmed at NPG collections storage, September 2013. Elaine de Kooning Self-Portrait / Oil on Masonite, 1946 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, © Elaine de Kooning Trust

2013 at NPG: Highlights from the Year, a recap of 2013 at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Music: "Like Swimming" by Broke for Free: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Leaf/Broke_For_Free_-_Leaf_-_02_Like_Swimming "The Great" by Broke for Free http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Slam_Funk/Broke_For_Free_-_Slam_Funk_-_03_The_Great https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free Used via Creative Commons, Attribution 3.0 Unported: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/