Co-curated by musician and painter Scott Avett, lead singer of the folk-rock band The Avett Brothers, and David Kratz, president of the New York Academy of Art, ABOUT FACE, which will feature sculpture, paintings, and photographs, brings celebrated artists, many from the East End, together with emerging artists to examine the diverse ways human beings are presented in portraiture today.

The exhibition’s theme is closely tied to the Academy’s mission of promoting and preserving the tradition of figurative art within the contemporary art world. How we look at people says as much about who we are as who they are. In the era of the ubiquitous selfie, this exhibition asks the viewers to slow down and consider the story inherent in every human face.

Artists include John Alexander, Steven Assael, Scott Avett, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Berenice Bell, Margaret Bowland, Monica Cook, Will Cotton, Allan Saint Denis, Peter Drake, Richard Dupont, Matthew Alfonso Durante, Nicole Eisenman, Heidi Elbers, Eric Fischl, Audrey Flack, Steve Forster, Nick Gebhart, Ralph Gibson, Alonsa Guevara, Lyle Ashton Harris, Jacob Hayes, Mark Heming, Patty Horing, Judith Hudson, Sara Issakharian, Yung Jake, Edgar Jerins, Alex Katz, Sophia Kayafas, David Kratz, James Linkous, Damian Loeb, Liz Markus, Kim McCarty, Michael Meadors, Steve Mumford, Gary Murphy, James Nares, Alice Neel, Esteban Ocampo-Giraldo, Rebecca Orcutt, Eric Pedersen, Naudline Pierre, Larry Rivers, Randall Rosenthal, Tony Scherman, Dana Schutz, Andrew Sendor, Cindy Sherman, Bernardo Siciliano, Laurie Simmons, Billy Sullivan, Mickalene Thomas, Phillip Thomas, Jorge Vascano, Anna Wakitsch, Mitra Walter, Tun Ping Wang, and Lucy Winton.

Image: Nick Gebhart, Just my Imagination, 2017