See How an Artist Has Harnessed the Power of Augmented Reality to Make a Delightful Series of Self-Portraits

It was a disastrous 2019 for VOLTA New York, with structural problems at Pier
94 leading the Armory Show to unceremoniously boot its younger
sister fair from its venue at Pier 90.

Now under new ownership, the fair also has a new location at the
Metropolitan Pavilion West.

After last year’s debacle, the majority of dealers did not
return, with the number of exhibitors dropping from 78 to 53. But
Kaoru Yamamoto, of Amsterdam’s Kyas Art Salon, wasn’t scared away.
“I was worried because of the coronavirus!” she exclaimed.

Her two-person booth is one of VOLTA’s highlights. It includes
works by Rinus van Hall, who is showing a diminutive series of
self-portraits, each priced at $950. Each work depicts the artist
through the lens of a different social media filter.

“I took it as a diary. I made a painting a day,” Van Hall told
Artnet News, noting that augmented reality was becoming more
prevalent.

“Somebody might be putting a filter on top of you,” he
warned.

Using Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, Van Hall transformed
his face by adding bunny ears, turning his face into a creepy
skull, or making his skin look like shiny plastic.

“It’s funny to see how the filters themselves also have an
effect on how you pose,” he said. “With a more feminine filter my
expressions were completely different.”

Van Hall has made 67 works in the series so far, and he isn’t
running out of options. “There is almost a new filter every day
which is mind boggling,” he said.

See more paintings from the series below.

VOLTA New York is on view at Metropolitan Pavilion
West, Metropolitan West, 639 West 46th Street, New
York, March 4–8, 2020. 

The post See How an Artist Has Harnessed the Power of
Augmented Reality to Make a Delightful Series of Self-Portraits
appeared first on artnet News.