Selfie 

Alex Gross painted this work, titled 'Selfie', at an indeterminate date. It presents a portrait of a young woman holding a smartphone. The act of taking a selfie is an interesting phenomenon to consider from a social perspective. The genre speaks to a culture of self-representation and the democratizing effect of social media, where individuals can curate and disseminate their own image to a global audience. The woman's clothing and jewelry subtly reference wealth and status. Gross leaves us to wonder whether she is self-consciously performing these roles. As art historians, we might study the semiotics of fashion, technology, and social media, examining this painting in the context of contemporary society. It encourages us to investigate the ever-changing dynamics of self-perception and the public role of art in our digital age.