What is it about a nude that’s offensive?
At my local shopping center there is a massage place. The poster in the window has a nude woman’s back and the prices extending down her spine. It’s a cute concept until you get to the lower region.
This woman has buttocks, but no dividing line.
You can see where the heal tool was used, and you know that even with some shapes there is no way that this woman was born without a buttcrack.
In Japan, anime with nude breasts can be shown on any channel at anytime- providing the nipples are removed.
In many countries the tiniest bikini (an inch covering the butt and nipples) is enough to satisfy propriety while nudity or g-strings aren’t.
The details, it seems, must be covered or removed.
This makes me wonder. Is it the breast that’s “offensive” or is it the nipple? Are buttocks a problem or just the crack? Why are they offensive? Is it because the are the functional part of that zone? Or because they are the defining characteristics of those dodgy areas? If nipples are the offender then why are men’s acceptable?
Consider this an open forum, I want to hear your thoughts on these questions!
Render in progress
Well, that was a nice break! I’ve had a chance to relax and a chance to be sick as well. Yay. but now it’s time to get back to work. This year I want to try writing shorter posts and see how that goes. The plan is to actually publish more. We shall see!
A lot of my Daz time of late has been more technical in nature, a lot of tweaking and experimentation. I have some new toys that I have been practicing with! This is the result of some experimentation and I love the eerie light quality! I still want to tweak the head a little, but it’s coming along really well, I look forward to painting it up.
Flip 2 – steampunk Daz render
Flip – Daz Studio 4 Render
I love this pose so much I just have to keep playing! It’s odd how something changes with the angle. At the moment I am doing some watercolors and exploring the same pose from different angles, it’s really fun to see how much mood can change.
I will probably start posting those next week.
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
Wings, Helmet, Harness, Boots and Hair: Apteromata Flight
Textures: Acherontia Atropos Flight
Rebirth – Daz Render
Rebirth – Daz|Studio Advanced Render
Ah, when switching things around and symbolizing light as a character is there anything better than volumetrics? I didn’t think so. almost an identical pose, similar lighting, Now with added volume! Jean Grey again, for FanBoy vs ArtBoy at ArtBoy Gallery.
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
Death – 8×10 Oils on Canvas
Death 8×10 Oils on Canvas
$200
Currently at ArtBoy Gallery
The painting of Last Weeks render. I’ve taken a little of my usual artistic licence with the render, it’s deceptively tricky to do a very dark backlit piece and make it look convincing. A blend of comic art and my own technique combined with my love of unusual lighting.
the effects of denying women artists the nude
From the 15th through the 19th century the nude was essential to art, especially to grand history paintings. Doing history paintings helped establish the stature of an artist. However, women were barred from studying the human nude regardless of gender; even when they were permitted to join the academies on quotas, they were restricted from such training. By the time the restrictions were lifted by the end of the 19th century, the nude was no longer central to painting’s subject matter. Nochlin discusses this issue extensively.
She writes, “I have gone into the question of the availability of the nude model, a single aspect of automatic, institutionally maintained discrimination against women, in such detail simply to demonstrate both the universality of this discrimination and its consequences, as well as the institutional rather than individual nature of but one facet of the necessary preparation for achieving mere proficiency, much less greatness in the realm of art during a long period.”[From Why have there been no great women artists? - Stabroek News - Guyana]
this sounds like an interesting concept, I don’t know if I agree with a central precept, however, that the nude is no longer central to painting. it’s a crucial part of training and still a key subject, from art history to now there is no single subject that has been covered as extensively as the human body.
it’s an interesting parallel to draw, that the lack of access to the nude for women artists impeded their growth as artists. but it is noted that other factors probably contributed as much. I look forward to reading more as this series continues but I find myself concerned that some of the logic appears to be a little scattered. I assume it will all pull together by the end. I also dispute the title, it’s an attention grabber (it grabbed me!) but there have been many excellent women artists of note, both in the periods mentioned and now. They have received less notoriety, but are not less ‘great’ -it all depends on how you define greatness.
I am interested to see if these conclusions about the history of women artists lead onto the current disparity between modern male and female artists.
Century Project nudes under fire again
They are not images any of us are used to seeing: women of all ages naked, even young girls. It’s part of The Century Project by photographer Frank Cordelle, who said its purpose was to show what girls and women are really like spanning a hundred years and also address problems they face, like anorexia and sexual assault. Not everyone thinks that’s what the project does.
“Just because someone says something doesn’t make it true,” said John Foubert. “I couldn’t believe that college campuses would actually pay a man like this to put his pictures up.”
Foubert, a sexual assault prevention researcher who works at Oklahoma State University, started a Facebook page urging people to protest The Century Project. He has said Cordelle’s exhibit borders on pornography.
“They are pictures that you would find certainly in the collections of sex offenders and the like,” said Foubert.
Beyond that, Foubert said he is concerned that rather than educating about sexual assault, it might encourage it.
[From Art exhibit to be displayed at UofL includes nude children - WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | ]
The Century Project is coming under fire once again. I sometimes wonder why there isn’t some sort of global legal package set up for this project by now. yes this is an art exhibition, yes it has a range of ages. it’s purpose is to educate women in issues that affect women of all ages and types. this project has been celebrated and criticized.
Personally I find it fascinating I have viewed the images available online for the century project and will probably invest in the book. it hasn’t toured here and I doubt it will with Australia’s ridiculous censorship laws but it is a wonderful concept with many levels of meaning that I think people should be exposed to. it’s uncomfortable to see girls so young with eating disorders, abuse sufferers and in pain. it’s difficult to see the issues that women battle throughout their lives. but it is important. and it should not be censored. The reality of this project is it’s strength. it is sensitive, emotive and deeply raw and disturbing but certainly not pornographic.
It is sad that someone like Foubert cannot listen to himself. just because he says this exhibit is pornographic does not make it true.
because one nude Sarah Palin just wasn’t enough
oh yes. this time it’s a painting created by infamous Australian artist Pricasso (Tim Patch). guess what he paints with? the piece is artistically better, the composition, posing and coloration are more dynamic and fluid. but my statements from before still stand. I am not a Sarah Palin supporter and I am not particularly offended by this piece or the technique involved, but I do wonder if she would be lampooned and, yes, even objectified this way if she wasn’t female. I feel that works like this reinforce the notion that she’s a colossal joke because she’s a chick. don’t get me wrong- I still think she’s a colossal joke, just that her gender isn’t the cause. I think everyone is getting caught up in her femaleness and that can only hurt female politicians who aren’t, actually, colossal jokes.
back to Pricasso, I’ve always wondered about the ramifications of using his tool for the trade. it’s very delicate skin and the toxicity of a lot of different paints and pigments are very well known. even if he uses non toxic paints and solvents, I can’t help but wonder what the impact is on the local environment..
for a video of Pricasso in action and further comments on this piece check out Art News Blog.
For more of Pricasso’s world Leaders visit his Web Page.
how much nipple is too much?
“A few people on the organising committee told me that my painting could not be shown because my nipples were too erect.
“It is not as if I am knocking things off shelves with them when I go shopping.
“I use myself as the model in front of a mirror because it saves paying someone else and I paint late at night when I cannot expect another model to pose for me.
“I cannot apologise for my nipples being erect because, luckily, they have always looked this way.
“This is not hard or even soft porn. It is just a beautiful, sensual painting with a lot of feeling in it.
“Nudes have been exhibited in galleries for hundreds of years. The paintings in London’s National Gallery are far more explicit than this. Do they want to close that down too?
“I cannot imagine anyone being offended in this day and age when we have Page 3 girls in newspapers.”
there is little to say about this one really, the painting is harmless, but what gets me is the specific nature of the complaint. I just had to giggle to be honest! what a ridiculous claim. I feel sorry for the artist, sitting with the curators of this gallery, with whom she has an existing long term relationship, and candidly discussing how much nipple is too much. and how out there should a nipple be?
as some of you know I’ve given long thought to nipples, they are a recurring theme in my works in a “now you see them now you don’t” sort of way and I frequently feel they can make or break a piece. the nipples in question here are perfectly normal everyday nipples in my opinion. they aren’t that extreme or in your face. nipples have been in the news a bit lately from airbrushing them for a press conference by the Prime Minister of Rome to the use of styrofoam plates in covering up nipples in Virginia.
what is so wrong about nipples?
Nude art a rude shock in Islamabad
Toilet, Graphic 40x32cm by Amin-ul-Islam
(photograph courtesy of the NAG)
Requesting anonymity, an artist told Daily Times that the NAG management should understand that the gallery was a public property and only such items should be put on display that pleased the public. “In a private gallery one can project the art one likes but at NAG one can’t risk projecting art of their choice,” he said.
Following the agenda of “enlightened moderation”, the PNCA is portraying women not more than an entity or a showpiece and more surprisingly three women own “Khazana”, which displays female nude.
There is a four-year contract of the souvenir shop between Nageen Rehman, Ghania Baddar and Attiya Zafar and the PNCA.
PNCA defends: Jamal Shah, PNCA Executive Director, said that nude art was a creation of senior artist Naseem Hafiz Qazi, which was put on display on a temporary basis. However, he denied its unacceptability by the public.
“It is just an allegation that people don’t like this art. In fact a huge number of people appreciate it,” he insisted.
He said the galleries and museums of the world project such art then why could not Pakistan project it. “The gallery should present all kinds of art and there is no harm in presenting nude art when a number of people like it,” he defended.
[From Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Nude art at Khazana shocks public]
I disagree that a museum’s job is to present work that appeals to everyone. I see it as the point of a museum to push our minds, to make us think of new concepts in new ways, to remember the mistakes of the past and to look towards the future. I think their role is to challenge and defy our conventions of thinking. I would even go so far as to say that the museum’s responsibility is to help us forge new cognitive paths forward.
I do think that it is very progressive of the Islamabad National Art Gallery to display nude artworks, a huge leap forward when so many middle eastern museums and galleries ban nude art as a matter of course. The outcry can hardly be unexpected given the conservative religious attitudes of many of it’s patrons. and to run two exhibitions recently with nudes is a big step that cannot have been undertaken lightly. The progressive attitude of this gallery continues with over 60% female artists. The gallery is laid out in a series of themed rooms, still lifes, landscapes and of course, nudes. the layout strikes me as a prudent way to display a key area of art and art history while still respecting the religious views of a large portion of the population.
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