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Angles and curves:
Depicting the nude in the 21st Century
The nude is the longest enduring theme in the history of art. As such, a
plethora of societal taboos and religious proscriptions have accompanied the
creation and display of artistic works that embody nude renditions of the human
body. Although, in the 21st Century, many previously invoked legal sanctions
for depicting nudity may no longer be enforced, the taboos and proscriptions are
still operative, especially in the US. In this context, a role of art and the
artist is to call attention to the aesthetics and beauty of the human body and
to the corresponding eroticism and sexuality, whose repression are extant,
aggressively executed features of some Western societies. Thus, I use the
inherently abstract medium of black-and-white photography to record and
illustrate my vision of the modern human figure.
For this purpose, I present a variety of poses
- to represent either parodies or improvisations on art works of past masters,
- to present a geometrical interpretation of the human figure,
which may be static or in motion, and
- to suggest commentary on social or political issues.
I never depict the human figure as an isolated and abstract part of the human
body, e. g., a picture of a headless torso, which reduces the model from a
person to an object or thing. Instead, I show the model as a complete person.
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