Known for large-scale abstract figurative paintings that explore bodies moving through space and the simultaneity of multiple truths, Neri faced an unexpected turning point when studio constraints forced her to abandon her signature 72 x 60-inch canvases. The result is a surprising departure: a focused investigation of the single face, the singular moment, and the contemporary selfie as a form of self-portraiture.
Caught Looking began with a simple call to action on social media. Neri invited her followers—some close friends, others virtual strangers—to submit selfies for her to interpret in paint. The project taps into the currency of our image-saturated age: the carefully composed self-portrait meant for an audience of intimates or the entire internet.
These are not commissions. Each 16 x 12-inch painting is Neri’s interpretation, rendered in a direct, painterly realism rather than photographic precision. The uniform scale creates a democratic grid of contemporary faces, each offered up voluntarily, each claiming space. Participants receive a print of their portrait; if a work sells, they share in the proceeds—a gesture that acknowledges collaboration and complicates traditional artist-subject dynamics.
Caught Looking is conceived as an ongoing project, and its full strength will be revealed in its numbers. Neri intends to complete portraits of all submitted selfies. To date, there are 30 in process. The work will be exhibited in its entirety in 2028. In this way, an ambition that mirrors her earlier investigation of the moving body across large canvases: a multiplicity of presences, each distinct, accumulating into something greater than the sum of its parts.
In moving from multiplicity to singularity, from sweeping gesture to concentrated gaze, Neri has found new terrain. Caught Looking is an exploration of how we present ourselves, how we’re seen, and what happens when the artist’s hand mediates the self-image we broadcast to the world.
