TAKING THE "R" RATING OUT OF ART

What once was a universal staple in an art gallery exhibition, the Art of the Nude is becoming a rare sight. Where have all these steamy paintings, sculptures, and/or photographs gone? Is it simply a response by galleries to consumer buying trends? Has it become passé to own or display an artistic depiction of sensuality? Or, are we secretly disquieted and surprised by viewing the “nude” in a public arena?

Rendering the human figure is academic for Artists. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli,c.1485, is one of the most famous depictions of a sensual nude. Art Historians report that over 210 Masters spanning more than 500 years; the likes of Rubens, Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh, Wyeth; have celebrated the creation of man through their art. (PS: Georgia O’Keefe is not a part of this “Master” list.) Maybe the Vargas’ pin ups, commissioned by Playboy in the 1960s-70s, were an impetus’ that changed our view towards the nude in art.

A newspaper story title caught my eye...“Local Libraries Pull Explicit Magazine”, added fuel to my query. It reported that a Nipomo, California library banned the August issue of Hope Dance ( another local rag ) because its cover was perceived as an explicit nude joined by beyond the cover articles that offered sexual overtones. Was the Library by its conduct carrying out Censorship activities? What I found as humorous was that the controversial Cover accompanied this headline story, in full public view.

Along a totally different line of thought, Art Business News’ July 2006 headline reads “Selling Sensuality”. This article reports the increase in gallery sales of art that depicts the nude human figure. Females are the biggest buying group. ( That may be a strickly regional poll. I wonder what the statistics would be in San Francisco or Palm Springs, California.)

With all of this conflicting input and my own thoughts, I decided to conduct a “woman on the street” research. I canvased my local Gallery walls to see what's UP ? The first gallery I visited was the Peter Steynberg Gallery because Mark Bryant, the Hope Dance cover artist, is this gallery's current exhibitor. I was sure I would see a nude in this show, but Steinberg’s walls were NOT “bare” – so to speak! I visited Morro Bay galleries; Visions, Seven Sisters, Marina Square, Fionableu, Graves, Dan Berkham, and the Morro Bay Art Association. Visions offered a classic style oil painting of a reclining female nude. (Quite nice I must add.) Fionableu presented small acrylic Gauguin-like paintings. Berkham feels his nude paintings are “personal”. In Cayucos, Amy Veltman, owner of Ocean Art Gallery, pointed to a painting of hanging pears; we smiled; Suggestive-Abstraction, I presume. Lubeck, artist and owner of Art by Christopher did offer a choice of female studies. The Cayucos Art Association had none.

You won’t see a nude in over 113 works of art at the National Fine Art Competition exhibition currently on display at the Morro Bay Art Association on Main Street. Yet, the Best of Show ribbon went to Tang’s painting of a draped reclining female.

I doubt you will see the nude at weekend Art Festivals, unless it is in the form of ceramic mermaids. There was a Call for Artists by the San Luis Bay Surfrider Foundation, wanting Surfer Art. I suggest that if you really want to participate, you NOT submit art of naked surfers. Hey, that might be interesting.

The nude in art is in the eye of the beholder..TO A POINT. There is a difference between Sensual vs. Explicit vs. Suggestive. I admit, there are no nudes hanging on the walls in my home...and I don’t even know why not.

WEBSITES & THE ARTS

I am an Internet junkie.

My laptop’s keyboard is as familiar to my fingers as holding a hamburger or French fries. Even when I watch TV, my fingers click-clack and my eyes glance back and forth from screen to screen. I wonder if I look crazed? I can follow the program storyline while searching the net for valuable information. I can mentally compute all of the this’ and the thats. But when my husband tries to talk to me during my technical sessions, I cannot maintain the conversation. I can’t comprehend how Knitters can manipulate their needles without looking at them to complete each stitch. Yet, I am doing the same thing on my computer. Google that?!?

I stopped counting my favorite places when my bookmarks exceeded 100. Researching subject matter that helps me in my writing is at my fingertips. Virtual museum tours give me insight into the current exhibitions, without the price of an n admission ticket. Price comparison is made easy and allows me to find the best price and where to purchase the product.

I thought you might like to visit some websites that I find helpful and fun. Appropriately, they do relate to the arts.

On occasions friends of mine send me websites that they know I will find outstanding. I will never tire of “Drawing a Woman Inside-out”(http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702). This site just amazes me and wins my vote for best animation. It is an excellent demonstration of drawing the human form via topography.

I pretend for hours I am the splatter king Jackson Pollack when on http://www.jacksonpollock.org/. There I can mouse-out designs and click to change colors. Voila! I create wonderful originals that I wish I could save and print. It’s far better fun than Solitaire.

For art supplies I use Dickblick.com and misterart.com. There are plenty of art supply sites that you can find using search engines. Crayola.com is one of many sites that offer how-to instructions with color examples for art projects for every event imaginable. I urge any teacher to consult this site for education enhancement using the arts.

Getting up close and personal with the Masters is made possible through “Archive tours” (http://www.artchive.com/tours/favorites.html). It’s not quite as spectacular as going to the Louvre but it’s a lot cheaper. Most every Museum today is online. Museum sites offer glimpses of current exhibitions, artists’ biographies, and ideas that kick-start our creative processing. Enjoy MoMa’s (Museum of Modern Art) architecture and design collection at MoMa.org. It’s the world’s first curatorial department devoted to architecture and design.

Moviefone.com is your connection to the latest in celebrity news, movie trailers, and reviews on new films. This site equates to watching the “E” channel, which I do not do. A far better site to review critiques on films by notable and worldwide critics is “rottentomatoes.com”. Quite an appropriate title, I believe. If you saw the movie “The Queen” you may enjoy reading the English paper reviews on this site.

The New York Times’ book review is a trustworthy site for novel recommendations. I like the New York Times for daily reading. Today, most large newspaper publications are available online.

When it comes to being computer savvy, once I think I have a pretty good grasp on the basics a new concept is developed and I’m back to preschool. I’m now trying to figure out what “Blogs” are all about. So, here I go again...learning a new trick.
Blog Me.