New York Academy of Art
3rd Annual Summer Exhibition
June 3rd – August 2nd, 2009
Review by Jeffrey Wiener

On a hot summer night, TheGreatNude heads downtown to attend the opening reception for the New York Academy of Art’s 3rd Annual Summer Exhibition 2009. This exhibit features over a dozen “Great Nudes” amongst the 123 works produced by the teachers and students of one of the world’s best art schools.

The show is running now until August 2nd, and is a great place to spot new talent that will likely become well-known artists in the years ahead, so its definitely worth checking out.

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Watermelon Smashers by David Pettibone

Lux by Jane Hamill

Little Inside by Simon Muehlaueusser

Like The Spice Gallery
Brooklyn, NY
June 2009
Review by: Scott Goodwillie

Reuben Negrón‘s recent exhibit of watercolors at Like the Spice Gallery is a strong display of figurative work seen in a modern, fresh light. Negron’s use of the medium is masterful, and he uses figures to creat intimate scenes filled with a warm humanity.

For a young artist, Negrón may have found a genre he enjoys and portrays well. I look forward to seeing how else he challenges our voyeuristic nature in the future.

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I recently saw a small exhibit of delicate male nudes by of Paul P that were holding their own down in Chelsea, NYC earlier this year. Canadian born  of Paul P (1977) lives in Paris and is gaining attention as an artist. He has done numerous exhibitions since his first in 2001. Paul P’s works make excellent use of his media, blurring the line between charcoal, pencil sketch and water color, conveying movement and strong color to subject relationships throughout his pieces in the process.

Untitled-2007

A byproduct of the late twentieth century and prominent in the gay art community, his work is characteristic of those genres. Many of his figures, generally nude males of disputable age, are posed in overtly sexually posed that are dark and somber in nature. The claustrophobic undertone, seen through facial expression and body language, creates an overall sense of oppression. His ‘Untitled’ shown below suggests two persons in a sexual positioning – but no one looks happy here. I often look for universal qualities of the human condition in figurative works, but Paul P’s work seems aimed directly at/to the Gay Community.

There are of course romantic elements in Paul P’s work. However, even where Love is concerned, the artist seems to be catering to a cultural fascination; at the very least showing a strong attention to the young male form, beautiful even though the use of the figure seems politicized in the case of Paul P.

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