Archive for the 'Rants' Category

28
Jul
10

nude nazi mickey enflaming viewers

mickey-nude.gif

The poster, which was unveiled a month back, is an artist’s take on what he calls the “horrors” of the American lifestyle.

“This art provocation is a form of violence
against the sensitivity of many people,” Norbert Napieraj told The Associated Press.

The Prosecutors, however, claim that the poster is art which does not violate the country’s laws against glorifying Nazism.
The poster has been vandalised twice since it was put up but gallery director Maria Czarnecka said that she does not plan to remove it.

Czarnecka told The Associated Press, “Art should be provocative and controversial.”

She insists that the poster does not intend to propagate Nazism but instead wants to explore “symbols and how they work.”

[From Mickey Mouse goes nude? - Hindustan Times]

I admit that I find this work fairly unimaginative, it reminds me of the sort of thing you see first year art students creating as they rail against the status quo. it’s angry and designed to offend. the good news is that this time it isn’t the nude that’s causing the furor- thank goodness for that! I agree that art should be ‘provocative and controversial’, that is one of the many points of art, but there is a fine line between designing something to be provocative and creating it in order to offend people. The massive swastika does seem to glorify nazism – how can it not? it’s the first thing you see. it’s the primary focus. perhaps adding more symbols to reinforce their key concept may detract from the implied glorification, I don’t know, but it seems a little inflammatory to me.

I’ve always wondered about artwork like this. when the message is so blatant, and the intent is worn on it’s sleeve (frame?) what is there to ponder? what makes you return to the work? what makes it relatable to people?

07
Jul
10

Psych this!

Consternation - 12 x 12 Oils on Canvas
Consternation – 12 x 12 Oils on Canvas

So I have to start going to therapy soon. as part of my pain management I need to see the pain psych to treat my anxiety and depression issues. this is not something I want to do. apart from the fact that I can think of nothing worse than griping for an hour and then being told to go on mind numbing drugs, I really don’t want to dredge up all my old issues. They’ve suggested that I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that with counseling I could do really well. I think I’m probably fine as is (as long as I avoid certain triggers!)

I’m a burier. I like to suppress my problems and eventually paint about them. over the years I’ve come to terms with a lot of drama and I’ve reached a kind of understanding with myself. it may not be the healthy way or the right way but it works for me. most people are amazed that as a chronic pain sufferer I have few depression issues. the ones who know about all the other things that happened in my life to make me me are often really amazed that I am as sane as I am. but every time I have to rehash old ground, terrors and issues it gets harder and harder to reign in the crazy.

sometimes I wonder if I hold onto my issues because they give me fuel for my art. that if I were well adjusted and normal that my work would lose that emotive spark that everyone seems to like. I’ve seen some psychs in my day- some were good and others contributed to my traumas. but the picking at old wounds just causes them to fester it seems, rather than letting them close over and heal.

28
May
10

no Pride in censoring nude art

Man-Sweat-234x300.jpg
Mansweat by Debauch

Many GLBT community members have become increasingly concerned that Pride seems less and less Queer friendly and more driven by the almighty buck. Jennifer Pritchett, owner of Smitten Kitten, states “When you let money make decisions for you, you run the risk of those decisions being antithetical to your mission.”

Debauch has been contacted via email by Dot Belstler, the current Executive Director of this year’s Twin Cities Pride. Belstler writes, “I am so sorry this has caused you and your colleagues such pain. It was certainly not the intent – nor was censorship. In the future, we will attempt to be more clear in the call for Art, but please understand that sexually explicit content must be handled with sensitivity.” She also addressed the issue of censorship in the following statement “In this particular case, I believe “Mansweat” may have been confused with the full frontal nudity pictured in “Morning on the Balcony.” Of course “Mansweat” is not too erotic, it is a beautiful painting and we would be proud to display it in the show.”

These comments have left many wondering what constitutes erotica in a digital age. Any search engine will pull up a flaccid penis photograph while searching for information about syphilis. As for art and nudes – sculptures of male nudes grace the entries of some of our most noted institutions including Westminster Presbyterian Church.   In this age, why should an oil painting of a male nude without an erection be considered too hot to handle?

[From Too hot to handle: Pride drops artist’s work saying it’s too erotic | Twin Cities Daily Planet]

The issue of erotica and the queer community is a tricky one. there are the quite right concerns that the dollar is becoming too important, that the conservatives and sponsors are taking over and quashing expression. I hope this is not the case. there is also, often, a concern within the community itself that too much erotica can underplay the seriousness of queer rights, fostering and reinforcing the opinions that being queer is all about sex, that everyone GLBT are unrestrained hedonists. I don’t hear that in this article, but I have heard it voiced as a concern in other Pride style events and I can’t help but wonder if this so-called mix up is due to the dollar, to perception or just to plain fear. the email certainly smacks of frantic backpedaling.
When an artist is well known for their sexually explicit works it often becomes hard for them to gain acceptance for their non sexual art. combine that with the fact that the artist is (gasp) gay and there is a ticking time bomb waiting for a ‘misunderstanding’ like this. it’s unfortunate that it is so hard to straddle both sides of the fence in this respect. usually you have to be either one or the other. People always seem to want to put things, people, artworks, into a box, label it and put it away. Events like Pride should be about breaking out of boxes and away from labels- not reinforcing this habitual behavior.

02
Mar
10

self defeating nude censorship

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Study No. 1 by Jeff Hebron

Besides, attending an art show is a matter of choice, not a requirement, and anyone easily offended can simply stay away.

Such censorship is ultimately self-defeating, because it only draws attention to the banned works. Would Hebron’s painting have received anywhere near the same level of attention had it remained on display?

People do not need protection from paintings. But Temecula residents should be worried when city government starts deciding which artistic works are appropriate for public consumption.

[From Censorship shame | Editorials | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California]

This article raises the issue that I have never understood about censorship. by censoring pieces indiscriminately there is a greater opportunity to create publicity for the very work that they are trying to squash. how does this make sense? if the aim is to sweep the piece under the rug then rely on the judgement of the patrons. they don’t have to look, they don’t have to attend and they will almost certainly not care either way. however, when a piece is censored, the artist receives publicity, the work receives publicity and the organizers receive flack.

would this piece receive publicity if it were just involved in the exhibition? are artists going to try to push the boundaries in order to receive this kind of publicity? the rewards are great for the great unknowns and the losses very few.

*edit* The city of Temecula has issued a formal apology to the artist. while a very nice gesture it doesn’t address whether the work will be shown and seems to be more about protecting their own interests and votes. you can read it here.

10
Feb
10

nude censored under glass in Britain

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This Is Me (Who Am I) by Marie White

The modesty of a nude sculpture has been hidden by frosted glass in a gallery’s window after complaints led to police intervention.
Police said the model at the A Gallery, in Wimbledon, south-west London, was deemed offensive under the Indecent Displays Act 1991.

Artist Marie White, 24, said she did not intend the piece, entitled This Is Me (Who Am I), to cause offence.

Scotland Yard said officers gave a man and woman “advice” at the gallery.

Ms White, a student at the Wimbledon School of Art, said: “She’s not posing in a lewd, crude way so the reaction of males that they can’t view a nude sculpture and not imprint the sexual aspect onto her, I find that quite surprising really.

[From BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Artist's naked ambition censored ]

it amazes me that something like this actually warrants a visit from the cops. don’t they have something better to do? I’m lucky enough to have A Gallery and their director in my contacts so I asked Fraser Kee Scott for his opinion on the matter.

Personally I find it strange that you can have naked breasts on page 3 of the biggest selling paper in England, but can’t put a nude sculpture in a window. If you hide something and insist it is hidden then it becomes a strange and curious thing – and to do that to something 1/2 of the people on Earth have – breasts – then that causes trouble.

This piece is entirely non sexual. in fact, it’s no more arousing than a storefront dummy that is in the process of being dressed. it’s an interesting concept and I would like to see more of the piece. England is very strange in it’s censorship laws. there seem to be many disparate and opposing views. from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I hope that the frosted glass will enable the gallery more walk in traffic, people intrigued by the censorship, what is obscured and what it all means. Perhaps the censorship will, in fact, create the opposite effect- I can always hope!

28
Jan
10

Won’t somebody please think of the artists?

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Puberty by Munch

Mr Hatzistergos will today release the recommendations by the NSW Child Pornography Working Party, set up after the Henson scandal.

The group, comprising Department of Public Prosecutions, police and Legal Aid representatives, was instructed to draw a clear line between pornography and art.

Its report, delivered to the Government on Friday, recommends art not be a consideration when reviewing images thought to be pornographic.

Mr Hatzistergos said the proposed laws would cover the production, distribution and possession of child pornography.

“The fact that it is art cannot be used as a defence. The report recommends that once such material has been found to be unlawfully pornographic, whether or not it is intended to be art is irrelevant,” he said.

[From Artists told: prove it's not porn | Herald Sun]

I have been following this for the last week. there is a lot of information out there and I have not nearly digested it all yet. there are serious, far reaching implications for artists in NSW and in the rest of Australia. this extends not only to visual artists but to authors, directors, anyone. and the terms are broad enough that they could be inferred to apply to anyone or any work involving children. The working party will be judge and jury in this case.

The working party, headed by District Court judge Peter Berman, also examined the use of photographs depicting nudity in a news context.

Mr Hatzistergos said the new laws would ensure the rights of photographers to publish pictures – such as the iconic Vietnam war photograph of a nine-year-old girl running naked on a street after being burned by napalm – would not be infringed.

[From Artists told: prove it's not porn | Herald Sun]

They openly acknowledge that this piece, although it contains a nude child, is not sexualized or pornographic. however, will the same generous liberties be extended to artists creating works now? the knee jerk reactions so far seem to indicate that all nude children are porn until proved otherwise. I have been reading the new proposed legislation in depth and the powers granted to the “working party” are enormous. I will provide my analysis as soon as possible, I think there are ways for legitimate artists to avoid self-censoring too much. but the fact that we may have to at all is a crying shame

13
Jan
10

Where is the First Amendment?

Kneeling
Kneeling by Jennie Rosenbaum

The more i think about it the more i think Australia needs a better constitution. There is nothing here that protects a person’s basic right to express themselves. Therefore we are at the mercy of a government that believes it has the right to morally guide us based on the whims of the party in charge.

It’s no news to anyone here that the compulsory internet filter has been approved. The blacklist of sites deemed too inflammatory will be blocked from public eyes. This list has been proven to have mistakes. Such as a dentist and a school cafeteria. And politically active sites that speak out against the government’s heavy handed censorship. What people overseas may not know is that the party in charge is considered to be the left wing party. it is becoming more and more apparent that both parties here are republican.

in addition to the clean feed mandating what we may or may not view online is a new legislation currently in the works to strike artistic merit as a defence for works containing nude children. Yet another knee jerk reaction designed by the government to try to stamp out child pornography. This, and the clean feed, are supposed to stamp out child pornography. And, like the clean feed, has a snowball’s chance of achieving It’s stated goal.

now, i think child pornography is beyond criminal. I belive it is one of the most disgusting things that exists in our society. However, i don’t believe for one second that targeting artists or individual websites will even make a dent in this issue. The government has gone to enormous expense, removing funds from task forces that were making a difference to fund a witch hunt that all the experts say will have no real results.

i try not to get too political. Especially in a country where i can’t vote, but what are they thinking? Rather than funding projects that do work and actively pursue the root of the problem, this government seems hellbent on attacking symptoms without treating the underlying problem.

I will probably write more later, right now I am too angry to think straight.

04
Dec
09

Sylvester Stallone’s nude art at Art Basel

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Sylvester Stallone’s Nude Artwork

There’s many a celebrity that will turn up to the opening of an envelope. But Rocky and Rambo star Sylvester Stallone had a very good reason for his random appearance at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair.

It was the actor’s first gallery show, and it was his colourful expressionistic paintings which were being exhibited.

But judging by the scribbled quality of the work, which includes self portraits and what looks like a line drawing of a nude woman, the 63-year-old may not want to give up his day job just yet.

[From Don't give up the day job... Sylvester Stallone tries his hand at fine art with mixed results | Mail Online]

does it bother me that a celebrity can get into a top gallery during art basel and command insane prices at his first show? yes, yes it does. Leonard Nimoy is a different matter, his photography is beautiful and he has worked long and hard as an artist for years. but these.. well… I like the frame! These pieces are no better or worse than many artists’ – especially at their first shows – but to command $40-50,000 per work for a first time mocks artists who have been slaving away their whole lives with art as their only goal. Many artists, many brilliant and talented artists, will never see amounts like this on a yearly basis- let alone per work. It seems to me that shows like this occur and people buy the works purely based on the name involved. I think that’s a pity. If Stallone gains release and satisfaction from his work then that is wonderful, I see a lot of energy and emotion in the pieces. but I wonder if the exhibition itself is more of a publicity stunt than anything else.

01
Dec
09

perfectionism adjustment

Release 12x12 Oils on Canvas
Release – Oils on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum

I think the key to overcoming a block is to just go into the studio and paint. the trick is that you have to surrender to the possibility of creating crap. this is something I’ve been warring with internally for months now. this may have been one of my longest blocks yet. I could create ideas, I could sketch, but I couldn’t seem to create paintings. this happens to me quite a bit. often it is followed by a surge in creativity and an upgrade in skills. however, these days as a professional I don’t have the luxury of just waiting for it to come back to me in it’s own time. I have to create. I have to produce. I am also a perfectionist so every piece must be the very best I can do and an improvement on the last. anything less than an improvement is seen by me as a failure. and I don’t like to fail, it’s be perfect or don’t do it at all.

this is an attitude that needs adjusting.

I’ve been increasingly aware of my own anxieties about perfection and failure. I have also been learning the key life lesson that I have to make mistakes in order to grow. that my need for perfection and completion is holding me back from my dreams and goals. this probably seems stupidly obvious to most of you, but for me it’s been a real struggle to comprehend- and it’s something that has to come from within. one of these stupid things that everyone can tell you but you still have to work it out for yourself.

so last night I couldn’t sleep. I decided to hit the studio, see if a different time slot could shake things up a little. I am reassured that at the moment I am experimenting with volumetric lighting and that experimentation necessitates mistakes. this is a good way for me to move forward and hopefully progress beyond this block.

13
Oct
09

The lengths one goes for seo


Consternation – 12 x 12 Oils on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum

The castle of Graymark was a dying place, sick with age nudeart disuse and rotten with decay. I gave it to a fairy girl who sang to me of beauty and light and things a dragon longs to hear. I have nudeart thinking about something all day. The overall sensation was one of eerie unreality, as nudeart they were lost in that primitive world nudeart half-dreams traversed by mortal and spirit alike in strange rituals that have no recognizable purpose. The entire situation was impossible, and nudeart was beginning to doubt that there was any real point to anything he had done. nudeart was so intent on watching her, nudeart fact, that he almost missed seeing Padishar Creel hand something to a dark-skinned boy who had come up to him. Traffic on Lincoln Highway was light, and the parking lot at the supermarket as they turned off Sinnissippi Road nudeart mostly empty. I know, he said, his voice almost sorrowful. He was in a small, nudeart furnished room lit by a single lamp set on a table at his nudeart With unbelievable fury Balinor pushed ahead, heedlessly knocking everyone in his path aside, his face grim and terrible.

This came up in my newsfeed alert for nude art and I wanted to include it as someone obviously spent a great deal of time on it. hey, copying and pasting and randomly substituting words can be an artform too nudeart. I am not including a link as, obviously, it led to a porn site.

guys, this is not nudeart. it’s not even nude art. please stop tainting my artform by association kthxbai. and google news, filter better! you can’t accept a site written by one person but you can accept this?




Contemporary Figurative Artist Jennie Rosenbaum

Contemporary figurative artist Jennie Rosenbaum's random reflections, rants and rambles on Nudes, Art and the Art World.

Comments are always invited and appreciated.

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