EXHIBITION DETAILS
(Un)Clothed
June 1 – June 29, 2013
STATEMENT
The (Un)Clothed exhibition is an example of how the human form is being presented in photography today. The broad range of work reflects historic movements such as surrealism, cubism, and abstraction. There are traditional representations of the human figure alongside contemporary presentations addressing gender, body image, and aging. The juror, Mona Kuhn, is a renowned photographer whose personal work is an ongoing study of the human figure; Her selections for this exhibition allow the visitor a variety of images that engage, delight and tantalize the senses.
Highlights include Keep in Touch II, by Mary Fashbaugh. It is an unexpected representation of the form where a blurred image of the photographer’s cheek is embossed with Braille text explaining her skin as sensed by a blind person. Nina Worren’s image Henricks Back, appears at first glance to be an ode to a Dutch master painting of a woman on a bed wrapped in a clean white sheet, only upon further inspection of the work do you realize that the sitter is a man. The image engages your mind with its beauty and reveals the artists’ intellect.
In the North Gallery, opening on the same day, is a series by Crista Blackwood titled, Naked Lady: A Dot Red. This series of finely crafted photogravures addresses the issue of commodification of the female form. Even more specifically the series addresses the seeming omnipresence of a nude woman in the landscape, and the work is in dialogue with the historically problematic nature of this combination. Blackwood’s prints are exquisite and a delight to view regardless of ones personal view of the statement that she is making.
