Shocking? Why?
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| Anselm Kiefer | 1977 | sketchbook |
“Say vagina!” I would say from the driver’s seat in the car. I could hear uncomfortable silences, shifting of positions, and ruffling of clothing then suppressed giggles. “Fail!” … This is how I prepared my sons for their sex-ed class in biology when they were in middle school. If they could say it without giggling, I told them, they would be mature enough to handle the topic. This, of course, is an impossible feat for a kid, but I had fun seeing them squirm and accept the word to the best of their young-but-maturing level. Not fair? How many adults do you know who can keep a straight face when asked to say vagina? Or mention any other private human parts, for that matter?
I can’t either. Mostly because I always think of the above situation, but also because the topic of any nudity is fun and should be without taboos as long as we don’t become vulgar about it. Why is nudity taboo? Well, I am not going into the history of religion here. We all have choices and I believe we should celebrate the human body, especially in art, which, as a matter of fact, has been happening for centuries. In seeking the most perfect ideal of human beauty, classical artists mostly celebrated the male body. The portrayal of the ideal female nude has always come in second place but has harvested many deeply felt protests from the feminist corner. Female nudity is despised and has gone through way more controversies than any male nudity has endured. But, let’s face it, titillating or not, from an artist’s perspective, painting any nude body is just plain fun and technically challenging. For the model, going nude and being seen, and judged, is the bravest personal demand of self as well as mentally liberating.
German painter, Anselm Kiefer (1945 - ), for example, sketched the above nudes. Shocking? I think they are absolutely beautiful and I carry this picture with me on my phone. Kiefer paints about repressed human emotions. With his work, he mostly wanted to bring awareness to the holocaust of WWII right after the atrocities happened and nobody wanted to know or could even wrap his or her brain around the enormity of emotional impact. Just so were his provocative sketches and painting of the female nude. He either has a very vivid memory or had a live model to sketch from. In the excerpt from his sketchbook above, we can see that the poses were unrestricted and uninhibited. It is doubtful either the painter or the model felt any shame or sense of taboo. From the painter’s point of view, I can assure you that it was probably mostly the chance of practicing this incredibly hard technique that turned him on most.
Everybody approaches nudity in his or her own way. You can approach it prohibitive, clinically, scientifically, repressive, sexually, or artfully. Approaching nudity artfully means that you regard the human body first of all with respect and secondly with an unbiased, open mind, preferably without regard or disregard of religious background. Throughout time, it has been stated and proven time and again that the human body is the absolute most difficult thing to portray. Body language and facial features expressing emotion are so very much part of the human package. Observing and sketching does not just entail the insanely hard technicality of converting a three-dimensional object to a two-dimensional surface. The reproduction of the essence of the man or woman in front of you is an indescribable symbiosis of two human beings, in a non-sexual, sexual way that many of us adults have yet to grasp. I am going to celebrate nudity as an artist and a supporting friend to an incredibly brave male model this month at Nude Nite in Orlando, America’s largest art exhibition dedicated to nude art. Stay tuned.
Now, say penis!
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