Up Front by Emma Hart

Read Post

Up Front: The Naked and the Dude

54 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

  • Paul Litterick,

    I am now distracted by the Victorian Etiquette Game, to which you linked. For once, I have found a game I can win.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    When you say Victorian, do you include the Continent? Because male nudes were a standard part of the Academy system, both in France and elsewhere. Mondrian painted them in the Calvinist Netherlands and this was a very traditional part of a conservative process. --- of course, there's a difference between the Continent and the Empire*.

    Neo-classicism was very big on the male nude (or draped) but of course Romanticism and realism weren't so, so that's something else to consider.

    * minor nashie bitch: Scotland, Ireland and Wales had people living there and showing, you know.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    When it comes to nakedness, as opposed to nudity, the British painter Lucien Freud is hard to beat.

    I know the appreciation of art should be purely subjective but purleeze. Mr Freud's concept of nudity has much to do with a rejection of his Grandfathers theories on Sexual Desire and the defence mechanism of repression, which in itself was a reaction to Victorian "Values" and I, for one, wish to see him locked up in the tower for his depiction of our dear old queen, Elizabeth that is, not Craig.

    <stands back to get better view of fireworks>

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    I would rather have a Freud than that photograph of Mika. Freud investigates his subjects; he is fascinated by them. The Mika is a glib exercise in formalism, designed to épater le bourgeoisie in just the way the bourgeoisie likes to be epated, while making the usual supplications to Queer Theory, Gender Theory, Post-Colonial Theory and all the other theories that stifle contemporary art. It is art made by art historians, lifeless and conservative, a new orthodoxy based on adherence to convention and banal representation.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.