NYC-based illustrator Jon Burgerman explores the visual culture blossoming from social networking sites and microblogging platform Tumblr in a new London show.
From taking selfies to curating your own personal brand via Instagram, it’s undeniable the Internet has initiated a substantial shift in visual representations of the self. New York-based illustrator Jon Burgerman’s Tumblr Girls project, the results of which will be exhibited at gallery Beach London from next week, stemmed from an attempt to study this new aesthetic vocabulary, as well as exercise his portraiture muscles.
“I'd just joined Tumblr and Instagram and wondered who all these people were and what they were doing,” says Burgerman. “I wanted to understand what I was seeing better. The drawings formed part of an investigation into the shared visual language of predominately women on these networks.”
Ranging from serene to overtly self-aware or just plain surreal, this colourful series demonstrates the escapist twist that’s occurred recently in the centuries-long portraiture tradition. It’s also a humorous insight into the slightly odd ways that people choose to represent themselves online. “The strangest is what I call the ‘overload’," explains Burgerman. “It’s when you see a woman holding shopping bags, a handbag, a mobile phone and/or a coffee, while pushing a buggy or walking a dog or dogs. These are quite difficult to draw!”
jonburgerman.comTumblr Girls: Portraits by Jon Burgerman
Beach London
27 March - 27 April 2014