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Self I

Self I
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    • Self I
  • 1977
  • b&w photograph
  • 15,2 × 23 cm
Ion Grigorescu’s photographic self-portraits of the 1970s reflect the artist’s observations of the everyday in which his own body always plays a central role, be it in a personal environment or as a site of observation itself. Grigorescu’s body art from the 1970s directs both the male and female gaze onto his own body as a means of self-enunciation during a period of strict controlling mechanisms and political repression. Whereas most of Grigorescu’s filmic and photographic self-analyses feature him engaging in actions that transform his body and thus break with a binary system of gender ascriptions, the photos “Self I” and “Self II” simply portray the artist with his naked body, squatting on the floor or leaning against the wall. One thus sees only certain body parts, but these are shown prominently and as clearly defined biological signifiers. W.S.