We often see ourselves in various pieces of art,
but when the art is about us, do we like what we see?
Our 2025 Program: Portrait
Reflective and Expressive, Portrait is a show that examines how we view ourselves through paintings of us. As we admire the craft that the artist puts in, we also reflect on our insecurities as we cannot determine the difference between what is caricature and what is reality.
We start our journey with confidence, openness, and even hints of smugness, as we have our portraits painted by the painter. We’re eager to see the art they create. How good will this make us look? The possibilities are endless. The artist is done, and now the portrait is ready to be seen. We finally see it. And the smile runs away from our face.
This isn’t it. Is it? Is this what the artist really sees in us? Surely, there’s another portrait. Yet they only created one. The craft is breathtaking, so it can’t be the artist’s fault. So we discover all our imperfections. They’re either reality, or caricatures that reveal an idea we hate just as much, that we aren’t as beautiful as we thought.
And now we live in this imperfect state of being we’ve created for ourselves. A state of being where nothing we do will ever make us look good enough.
After our reflection, we finally look at the work again. We notice the beauty we didn’t quite appreciate the first time. It all comes together into something wonderful. The artist saw the beauty we didn’t, and now we see that there’s no imperfection. Because in the end, we still have a great portrait of ourselves.
Musical Selections:
- Intro – Adam Ben Ezra
- I Am Nothing – Shubh Saran
- La Jeune Fille en Feu (from Portrait of a Lady on Fire) – Para One and Arthur Simonini
- Babayaga – Philip Lassiter
- Landscape – Portrait – Goldie & James Davidson
Music Arranged by Marco J. Iannelli – Battery Arranged by Josh Boulis
Catch Portrait live this summer:
Visit https://dci.fan/ColumbusSaints25 for tickets and show info
- June 28th – Canton, OH
- July 3rd – Rockford, IL
- July 5th – Whitewater, WI
- July 22nd – Bellbrook, OH
- July 23rd – Brunswick, OH
- July 28th – Mason, OH
- August 8th – Indianapolis, IN