Caught Looking
New Paintings by Perri Neri
The Painting Center April 28 – May 23, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 30, 5–8 PM
NEW YORK, NY — The Painting Center is pleased to present Caught Looking, a solo exhibition by Perri Neri featuring an intimate series of portrait paintings born from a radical shift in practice and a contemporary experiment in collaboration.
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 and present the work in its entirety in the near future. In this way, The Painting Center exhibition is less a conclusion than an introduction—a first glimpse of a series whose ambition 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.
DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THE PROJECT?
SEND ME A SELFIE!
I am looking for participants from both my personal circle and the wider community who would like to participate by sending me a selfie, and trusting me with creative control over how I connect with it and how I paint the portrait.
These are not commissions – they are part of a larger exhibition and will be available for sale viaThe Painting Center on Artsy, and future national exhibitions. We are collaborating in a way, and as a “thank you” I will send you a signed print of the painting I make from your selfie. And, if I sell the painting, you will receive 10% of the sale.
In the spirit of the “selfie” era and of this project, it is important that these are true selfies and not a photo taken by someone else. Catch yourself in a moment, an image you would share on social media. You can send me as many as you like!
All adult humans (18+) are welcome – across ages, genders, identities, and backgrounds.
REQUIREMENTS:
Head and shoulders only
In focus and well lit so that facial features are clear
Formatted as a JPG, resolution: 300
Email to: perrineristudio@gmail.com
Questions?Email me at perrineristudio@gmail.com