tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480777122984305387.post715700475583097492..comments2024-03-03T01:00:33.312-08:00Comments on Picked RAW Peeled: Picked RAW Peeled: Museum Lecture Series: Dr. Bram DijkstraKevin Freitashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02900228510168448833noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480777122984305387.post-29745627787559142902011-04-26T21:57:04.810-07:002011-04-26T21:57:04.810-07:00I've been thinking about this article and Vall...I've been thinking about this article and Vallo’s response. I also teach art appreciation and art history, and my students know artists have always been obsessed with the nude, because we explore it over and over through centuries and across cultures. Is the 21st century so different that we have finally escaped our fascination with the body?<br /><br />Vallo writes that the nude as theme can “only be articulated through a contemporary, nude, iconic image if that image echoes or reflects some aspect of the social unrest, injustice and general sense of chaos that frames our 'New World Order.'” I agree the examples of photojournalism he brings up are powerful. But is all other contemporary work about the nude inconsequential? Are all other paintings, photos, sculptures, films, performances, etc. that deal with the body only about selling sex? I hope not.<br /><br />Since I also make nudes I hope I can add something to the conversation. But as an artist, my duty is to pursue my interests regardless of whether or not I’m changing the world. I make nudes because I love the human body, and would rather look at and paint it than just about anything else.Anna Stumphttp://annastump.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480777122984305387.post-35580089918804767662011-04-21T22:13:51.750-07:002011-04-21T22:13:51.750-07:00Thanks to Marilyn for reporting on this lecture an...Thanks to Marilyn for reporting on this lecture and to Vallo for continuing the discussionPatriciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09466326752758836872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480777122984305387.post-48132655605871615012011-04-20T16:17:45.655-07:002011-04-20T16:17:45.655-07:00I confess that I have yet to read Dr, Dijykstra...I confess that I have yet to read Dr, Dijykstra's, book, but for the past two years I've been actively developing my Art 104, Art Appreciation course at Southwestern College with the same theme in mind, The Nude in Western Art'. I believe that creating meaning from contemporary, nude images is to create meaning and insight into the workings of our contemporary cultural in general. After all, what place or reference does the nude image have in western cultural? With a world inflamed and in flames, due to social unrest, the last nude images that had any social and historical relevance and deep, emotional content that comes to my mind are the images of the little, nude, Vietnamese girl walking down a road, facing the camera view, along with others trying to get away from the napalm bombs, and the nude african man crawling toward the food bank in Biafra. Also, the African nude child dying of starvation alone except for a great vulture ready to consume the child. 'The Ideal Image of Man' as the Greeks developed the theme and how the theme evolved in western art history can only be articulated through a contemporary, nude, iconic image if that image echoes or reflects some aspect of the social unrest, injustice and general sense of chaos that frames our 'New World Order'. The concept of 'eros' no longer has a legitimate place in contemporary, world cultural, except for it's basest expression in the form of commercial pornography.<br />Eros, in it's highest apogee and manifestation, as I understand it, represents all of those human values that are held in the highest esteem, love, beauty, compassion and service. All of these qualities are quite marketable, and in fact are assigned to any variety of forms and objects including the nude form, both male and female, yet all have fallen short of any deep, meaningful and lasting contribution to our understanding of esthetics or as symbols of relevance to our needs in our collective quest toward building a viable and mutually supportive community. If the nude image is to have any relevance whatsoever, it will have to be fashioned out of the ashes and detritus of a reformulated human esthetic from which we might regain a more positive sense of human worth beyond a mere, marketable, numeric value. On deeper reflection, I also remember those wonderful nude images from groups like the Living Theater, The Ridiculous Theatrical Company and The Angels of Light plus those joyfully, cavorting youths of Woodstock days, bonified icons of an era filled with hope and new beginnings.vallo ribertohttp://valloriberto.comnoreply@blogger.com