The representation of the human figure is one of the oldest pictorial forms in art history. Be it in sculptural form or as a painting, the ‘classical’ portrait served to present and honor the person portrayed or to remember him or her. Having originally emerged for memorial purposes, the portrait is a form whose task and significance can no longer be explicitly stated, further the manner of portrayal and the formal language have opened up and changed.

The representation of the human figure is one of the oldest pictorial forms in art history. Be it in sculptural form or as a painting, the ‘classical’ portrait served to present and honor the person portrayed or to remember him or her. Having originally emerged for memorial purposes, the portrait is a form whose task and significance can no longer be explicitly stated, further the manner of portrayal and the formal language have opened up and changed. Against this background, the group presentation by Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe at Art Basel Miami OVR shows a wide variety of diverse contemporary positions each following the traditional attributes of the portrait in very different ways constantly challenged by one abstract to hold up the complex ambiguity of boundaries and extension at the same time.