MirrorMirror: The Reflective Surface in Contemporary Art

A dazzling and intriguing exploration of the use of mirrors and reflective surfaces as a medium in global contemporary art.

From the art of Cindy Sherman to Anish Kapoor, from Yayoi Kusama to Tracey Emin, MirrorMirror presents an intriguing and gloriously illustrated global survey of "reflective" work by more than 150 artists across media, nationalities, genders, and locations.

A fascination with mirrors and reflective surfaces is a common theme among artists of the past. Michael Petry’s thought-provoking introduction begins with Jan van Eyck's celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (1434), one of the first paintings to feature a significant mirror. Petry references key works by the great masters―from Diego Velázquez's The Rokeby Venus (1647–1651), to Édouard Manet's complex painting A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), and Claude Cahun's Reflected Image in Mirror, Checked Jacket (1928), a seminal photograph for those whose gaze is often upon themselves.

Present-day practitioners are no less intrigued, revisiting historical concerns and approaches for contemporary circumstances, often working with modern technologies and materials. Petry presents Jeff Koons's Balloon sculptures, Subodh Gupta's stainless-steel life-sized trees, and Not Vital's mirror architecture, and documents works that use actual mirrors, including pieces by Gavin Turk and Alicja Kwade, and the largescale, spectacular installations of Doug Aitken, Teresita Fernández, Olafur Eliasson, and Sarah Sze. Special consideration is given to selfies and the way in which the cellphone now operates as a modern-day mirror to the self.

The multitude of artworks in MirrorMirror―from monumental installations to the slightest selfie―capture how mirrors appeal to more than just human vanity but are objects of magic, transformation, and power.

247 color illustrations

Michael Petry is an artist, author, and director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), London. He is the author of The Art of Not Making, Nature Morte, and The Word Is Art.