THE FUTURE IS NOW
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Self-Portrait
Artist
Nam June PaikDating
Medium
Cathode-ray tube television casing with 10-inch liquid crystal display monitor, permanent oil marker; video, single channel, 4:3 format, colour, sound
34.93 x 46.36 x 49.53 cm
Credits
Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Purchased with Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Major Accessions
Image © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Katherine Du Tiel
Paik continued to paint and draw throughout his career, often over existing materials like newspapers and found objects. Many of his late works are characterised by colourful painted additions. Faces and TV screens were his most common motifs. The two come together here in this sketchy self-portrait, painted on top of a functioning TV screen showing footage of and by the artist. This is one of Paik’s very last works. On one side of the cabinet, Paik signed the work with his name in English, Korean and Chinese.
