Annette Polan Fragile Strengths: Thoughts on Aging Annette Polan, Wings, 1988, acrylic on canvas and wood
BUCHANAN HALL ATRIUM GALLERY GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Annette Polan
About the Artist
Fragile Strengths: Thoughts on Aging
Annette Polan was born in Huntington, West Virginia and lives in Washington, DC. She studied at the Tyler School of Art, Corcoran College of Art and Design, and École du Louvre. Polan is a portrait painter, photographer, art educator, and former chair of the Painting Department at the Corcoran School of Art. She was chair and founder of Faces of the Fallen that honored American servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan and Iraq with 1,323 portraits by artists from throughout the United States. Polan has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Fragile Strengths: Thoughts on Aging is a multimedia self-portrait that looks inward by Washington D.C. based artist Annette Polan, who is revered for her portraiture and civically engaged art. In keeping with Feminist traditions, this visual autobiography invites dialogue to raise consciousness about issues confronting aging. It investigates aspects of a life of a single, mature woman who although powerful and confident, can feel disenfranchised, invisible or muffled, as she grows older. Growing old has changed in the 21st century. There is now potential later in life to replenish a capacity for positive change and access untapped strengths. It seems to be a new kind of liberation for some and new restrictions for others - and everything in between. Talk about aging, however, remains taboo. In recent years, Polan has turned to nature to record memories of times past and of the brevity and fragility of life. Her new self-portraits portray an inner self that is both vulnerable and powerful. The self-portraits evolve from memories and dreams and offer a flexible paradigm open to fresh approaches of exploration. These multimedia portraits offer a glimpse of different aspects of self – always changing realities.
About Mason Exhibitions
Annette Polan, Moonlight, 1988
“Throughout my career, I have used likeness to explore complex realities that lie behind appearances in myself and in others. I started making self-portraits as a young mother in the 1980’s. As I look back on my younger self through my art, I can see the maternal and the seductive; the determined and the wavering. I made a portrait when I decided not to have more children and another when I divorced. Selfportraits have not only marked milestones, they have connected me to others and given me strength to move forward.” -Annette Polan
Mason Exhibitions is a multi-venue forum dedicated to displays of visual art that advance research, dialogue and learning around global social issues. Mason Exhibitions is a partnership between Mason’s School of Art (SOA) and Provisions Research Center for Arts and Social Change located on the Fairfax campus. Exhibitions on the Fairfax Campus are presented in the Art and Design Building’s Fine Arts Gallery, Buchanan Hall’s Atrium Gallery, and The Fenwick Library’s Lobby Gallery and Special Collections Gallery. For more information visit: www.soa.gmu.edu www.masonexhibitions.org