Sunday 13 March 2011

Good Nudity


"In art photography, the nude figure is all about the spirit".
Dennis Mecham.














Just under a year ago, this image of model Sasha Grey was seen all over the country (the UK) as part of an advertising campaign for the charity fighting breast cancer. The fact that she appeared nude (aside from a well placed cloth depicting the campaign's logo) merely added to the directness of the visual power of the poster, and, so far as I'm aware, no one was troubled by the use or impact of the human form in this context. The campaign was certainly successful in the sense of getting noticed, but it made me ponder once again why, in a society which is well-nigh saturated with illicit and demeaning depictions of the nude, that the one thing we publicly see so little of is images which cause us to stop in our tracks and truly delight in the beauty of the human form.

Dennis Mecham's insight is spot on. The 'trouble' with genuinely artistic nudity is that it causes us to look both upon the grace within an image and experience the shock-wave of that wonder within ourselves. After many years of working in this field, I know just how deeply this can impact upon my own being, bringing moments of genuine wonder and delight, so perhaps the problem is that most of us would find it highly troubling to be 'startled' in such a fashion by an enchanting figure work depiction. Or would we? The Breast Cancer campaign suggests it's all a matter of context - that if the aim is good and the composition is agreeably arresting, then the response is constructive, at least in general. So should meaningful nude art become more 'mainstream' in our world. I think it should.

Changes in networking groups at the end of last year meant that I had to find new ways and means to display my fine art nude compositions created as video slide-shows, and this provided an opportunity for the productions to field to a wider audience. The results have been highly positive, and, in some cases, have allowed some to look at the nude with fresh eyes - to begin to encounter and engage with the truly spiritual nature of what it means to be human.

Nudity in it's true garb is a marvel that can bring us closer to the art of our Creator.
Perhaps future public art and campaigns will allow further 'opening' of this enriching 'window'.

Dennis Mecham's You Tube Video on the value of Nude Art: