Skip to main content
Logo of de Saisset Museum featuring a stylized

Bryan Ida conText

Black and white ink portrait of female figure standing with shirt that reads The Future is Female

Black and white ink portrait of female figure standing with shirt that reads The Future is Female

con.Text: Portraits by Bryan Ida

January 24 - June 17, 2023

(Closed March 18- April 10 for academic breaks and holidays.)

In his con.Text series, artist Bryan Ida creates life-size portraits by transcribing text from government documents and other communications as the linework for his ink on panel figures. Each person portrayed is connected to the text used to create their portrait.

Utilizing text from government documents, declarations, and other institutional communications artist Bryan Ida creates life-sized portraits in which the linework is his actual handwritten transcription of the sentences and phrases from the selected documents.

The con.Text series relates these historical events and documents to the lives of the individuals depicted. Each person portrayed is connected to the text used to create their portrait either through direct impact or generational effects of policies.

Collectively, the portraits examine a broad range of subjects including racism, civil rights, and human rights.

Ida develops the ink portraits working from photographs. While many of the source photographs are contemporary images taken by the artist himself, the photographs referenced for Grandfather (2018), Father (2020), and Grandmother (2022) — depicting members of Ida’s own family — are based on photographs by Dorothea Lange taken as part of her assignment from the War Relocation Authority to document the relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII.

 

Image above: Bryan Ida, Protester, 2019, ink on panel. Image courtesy of the artist.

 
Arts
Past

Related Programs

Exhibition Reception
Thursday, April 13, 2023
4-6 p.m., FREE
RSVP


Gallery Walk-through with the Artist
Friday, April 14, 2023 @ 11
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Both days: 11:30-12:15 p.m. and 1-1:45 p.m.
Advance registration recommended due to low capacity

Register for Friday, April 14

Register for Saturday, April 15