Lucas Samaras Retrospective Highlights Polaroid Self-Portraits

Exhibit at Art Institute of Chicago showcases artist's mysterious and expressive self-depictions.

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

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A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago titled "Lucas Samaras: Sitting, Standing, Walking, Looking" is highlighting the artist's unique and experimental Polaroid self-portraits. The show features Samaras' distinctive style of manipulating and distorting the Polaroid medium to create highly expressive and mysterious self-depictions.

Why it matters

Samaras is considered a pioneer in the use of Polaroid photography as an artistic medium, pushing the boundaries of the instant film format through his unconventional techniques. This retrospective provides an in-depth look at his innovative self-portrait work and the ways he used the Polaroid process to explore themes of identity, isolation, and self-reflection.

The details

The exhibition includes over 100 of Samaras' Polaroid self-portraits created between the 1960s and 1990s. The artist is known for aggressively manipulating the Polaroid film, scratching, folding, and distorting the images to create surreal and unsettling self-depictions. Many of the works feature Samaras in various poses and states of undress, creating an intimate and psychological exploration of his own identity and inner life.

  • The exhibition "Lucas Samaras: Sitting, Standing, Walking, Looking" opened on February 15, 2026 at the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • The show will be on view through June 30, 2026.

The players

Lucas Samaras

An American artist known for his experimental Polaroid self-portraits and other multimedia works exploring themes of identity and the self.

Art Institute of Chicago

One of the largest art museums in the United States, located in Chicago, Illinois, and home to this retrospective exhibition of Lucas Samaras' work.

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What they’re saying

“When you live alone you become the audience, the other to your own life. And falling in love with yourself is stupendous. You have the power, you can turn it any way you want, make the drama go this way or that.”

— Lucas Samaras

The takeaway

This retrospective of Lucas Samaras' innovative Polaroid self-portraits provides a unique window into the artist's exploration of identity, isolation, and the power of self-representation through experimental photographic techniques. The exhibition highlights Samaras' pioneering role in pushing the boundaries of the Polaroid medium as an artistic tool.