Last week TheGreatNude.tv was able to preview some of mixed-media artist Ronald Ventura’s work at the Tyler Rollins Gallery in Chelsea. A Singapore native and established artist in Southeast Asia; this is Rollins first U.S. exhibition. In his upcoming show Metaphysics of Skin running September 17 - October 31, Ventura plays on the interaction between physicality and imagination, perception and creativity. His works seem to bend the concept of portraiture into something that feels personal and quite alien at the same time. The works are worthy of detailed analysis as they are very well painted and worthy of lengthy study.

The Tyler Rollins Gallery is located at 529 West 20th St, 10W New York, NY

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Echo, 2009 oil on canvas, 48 X 36 in.

Second Skin, 2009 oil on canvas 84 X 60 in.

Rainbow for Nothing, 2009 oil on canvas 48 X 36 in.

Mother's Mark, 2009 oil on canvas 48 X 36 in.

This being the closing week of the summer show NAKED!; the figurative arts show TheGreatNude.tv wanted to take the opportunity to make sure this show was not missed. The Paul Kasmin Gallery, located in Chelsea, is showing a series of figurative works spanning a time period of over four hundred years. Although finding a commonality between the classic and ultra-modern works might seem unlikely, the gallery accomplishes it with a range of fun, serious and inspirational works.

The gallery is located at 239 10th Avenue New York, NY. Hurry to see this show though; it closes September 19th.

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Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson Le Sommeil d'Endymion, oil on canvas 14 7/8'' x 18 1/4''

David Lachapelle, Nature's Naked Loveliness, digital color c-print 97'' x 72''

Duncan Hannah, Crazy Horse Revue Dancer, oil on canvas 18'' x 14''

Mel Ramos, Rita Ritz, oil on linen 39 1/4'' x 28 3/4''

Theodoor van Thulden, Time Revealing Truth, oil on canvas 58 3/4'' x 42 1/2''

An iconic male figure in metal wire

Sometimes when looking through various art publications, I will find something which makes my heart race and I feel as if I have discovered someone new. It’s the aesthetic version of the Wow Factor. Of course in the case of Korean artist Seungmo Park, it’s only a discovery for me, as he has been exhibiting his aluminum wire sculptures for some time now throughout Asia.

There is a lot of spiritual meaning informing Parks work so I’ll try to be brief. Following a personal path through Zen Buddhism, and a fascination with Tibetan mandalas, he seeks out everyday images, generally creations of man, and even humankind itself. These in turn become subject matter which he sculpts and forms into a plastic resin maquette. Upon this armature he then begins the laborious process of coiling thin gleaming aluminum wire. The finished piece has a beauty which catches the light while at the same time resembling a resonating fingerprint. Plenty of metaphors to be had in that!

He likens this technique to creating a mandala in which artistic flow takes over thought in a meditative way. Unlike a mandala, these sculptures thankfully are not wiped away, and are allowed to have a presence of their own which we can appreciate. I say presence of their own because he is very aware of the illusion of the created world much the same way Magritte created the famous little painting of a pipe upon which he wrote “this is not a pipe”. I always took this as a bit of tongue and cheek humor, but Parks dedication to philosophical ideal is quite sincere.

More can be read at the link below, as I mentioned it’s an extensive but thoroughly fascinating look at an experience which had a profound effect on his life and the artwork he produces.

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[Editor Note: This interview was originally translated from French]

A relative unknown in the United States, 27 year old Iranian native painter Nazanin Pouyandeh is taking the traditional nude in different directions with her charged dreamscapes, filled with symbolism and personal imagery.

When The Great Nude.TV came across her work at the 2008 Asian Contemporary Art Fair we were immediately drawn to the expressive qualities of her recent paintings, and the powerful use of the human form in her symbolism and personal narrative. Represented by LTMH Gallery domestically, we are fortunate to be able to interview Nazanin about her work.

Pardiss, 2008

The Great Nude: Thank you for taking time with us at The Great Nude to talk about your work. We were immediately interested in how gender politics affects your work. What does the use of the female form mean to you as a woman and as an Iranian Artist?

Nazanin Pouyandeh:
The use of the female figure as one of the main topics of my work is a fairly recent phenomenon (since the end of 2007). Instinctively, since the beginning of this series of paintings, I felt the need to have around me, female masks and to cover part of their bodies with made-up tattoos, inspired by the Persian and Indian miniature. The characters that I chose to paint, were exclusively women that were part of my entourage. I realized some time after this series started that this was an indirect way of my introducing me in my paintings as a woman and as an Iranian artist. I have always refused to work (on a piece) having to do with my origins, on the position of women. I do not appreciate stereotypes in art. For awhile, I even intentionally refused to paint Iranian faces to avoid all cliches. After painting for several years, spaces and characters from the Western world, I think today I’ve arrived to having some distance to my home country and am able to address it subtly in my paintings. Painting naked women is not a provocation but a way to make me naked through the images of my friends.

TGN: Many of our viewers are artists themselves, and we’d all be interested in hearing about the process from a technical perspective. Can you tell us about the process of creating your paintings?

NP: I paint my characters from photographs. For my recent paintings, I organize staged scenes with the necessary accessories, my friends arrive, and then I ask them to pose in ways that I have already imagined. The areas in which the scenes of my paintings are held are often imaginary, influenced by different sources. I paint my characters with light strokes. I like transforming reality by painting. The photo remains the source of an image, but I do not try to reproduce it. I’m inspired by it. The collage is the basic construction of my paintings. The various characters and objects come from multiple sources. What is important for me is to imagine and not to just reproduce it.

Setareh, 2008

TGN: We saw your painting “Setareh” at the Asian Art Fair last week, can you tell us about the meaning of and inspiration behind this painting?

NP: Despite the very strong figurative meaning in my painting, it is not illustrative. We would not find a distinct meaning or a unique story. In the painting entitled Setareh, as in most of my recent portraits of women I’ve painted, there is a confrontation between popular Iranian mythology with a contemporary character. I think we are more or less haunted by the myths and the fiction which has become legends in human civilization. Setareh is a character in a relationship of pleasure and pain as opposed to the small male counterparts, soldiers inspired by popular Iranian painting. And, at the same time, despite the air of melancholy on the woman’s face, there is humor in this painting, a disparity.

Leila, 2008

TGN: What was your artistic training, and how has living in the West affected the way you see your career as a figurative artist?

NP: I arrived in France at age 18. The following year, I had the wonderful opportunity to enter to L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts de Paris. At that time I was doing collages with images from magazines. Arriving in France, the world of invasive pictures fascinated me. The choice of images in Western newspapers and magazines, ripping them and diverting their meaning in my first creative works, was an unconscious way of belonging to this new culture. Gradually, I transformed these collages without this notion disappearing from my work. My first paintings were executed quickly. The subject and treatment would make one think of movie posters painted by hand in the Eastern countries. After returning from my first trip to Iran, I realized that my painting was heavily influenced by film posters and portraits of monumental propaganda on the facades of buildings in Tehran. This was obviously difficult for me to accept, the images I despised the most in the world were a source of influence for me. Gradually this influence has disappeared in my painting. What is interesting in the artistic process is the whole part which completely escapes artist. The faces that I paint, whatever their origins have large eyes and well marked traits, such as those of my country. But this transformation comes despite me. I’m thirsting for the image, it fascinates me. Living in Paris has allowed me to feed my thirst - feeding it with a whole new visual universe. This has completely influenced my work. The unlimited access to the image (cinema, photography, advertising, painting, etc.) opens more possibilities for creativity in this area. I use this opening while coming from a country where the visual world is totally different. My visual memory is itself a collage.

More Info:
Official Nazanin Pouyandeh Website
LTMH Gallery

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Things have been busy over at The Great Nude Studio and we’d like to share with you what’s coming down the pipe in the coming months.

• The Great Nude will be down in Miami for Art Basel 2008. We are finalizing plans now to do a live taping of sketch sessions with several models (male and female.) Stay tuned for more specifics as they become available.
• The Asian Contemporary Art Fair proved fruitful, with excellent figurative pieces from China, Iran, and Japan. The Great Nude has lined up exclusive interviews some international figurative artists which will be featured on the blog in the coming weeks.
• We’ve revamped our blog with some new style and flair and will be launching a new custom video player on the main site soon that will allow you to watch multiple videos in one player.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter for the most up-to-date information about our videos and events.

Cheers,

The Great Nude

With the Asian Contemporary Art Fair in full swing this weekend, it is perhaps fitting that The New York Times has run an article on one of Southern Asia’s most celebrated and demonized painters; India’s M.F. Husain.

M.F. Husain has been referred to as the “Picasso of India” - and is certainly India’s most famous if not controversial artist. The level of interest and enmity around his work has caused the 93 year-old artist to into a self-imposed exile in Dubai. His work is internationally known, and in the art marketplace commands a hefty price tag. In early 2008, amid protest, the diptych Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12 fetched 1.6 million dollars at auction.

Protester at Christies in NY. Photo: Snaps India

So why is this accomplished painter, who has a body of work estimated at 20,000 pieces the center of so much animus? It stems from a series of nudes, most notably “Bharat Mata” (Mother India), that depicts India on a map as a nude female, with her breast pointing out to the Arabian sea. While not shocking to Western eyes, this piece unleashed religious and cultural tidal waves as Mother India is the personification of the country, and is seen as sacred.

"Bharamata" (Mother India) M.F. Husain

According to The New York Times article “Mr. Husain insists that nudity symbolizes purity. He has repeatedly said that he had not meant to offend any faith.”  However, in 1996 in 8 criminal complaints were filed against Husain in India for his nude portraits of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The charges claimed his works promoted “enmity between different groups.” Though the 8 counts were ultimately dismissed, it did not abate the continual criticism and scrutiny of Husain’s work.

Today, M.F. Husain still remains in self-imposed exile despite the May 2008 dissmisal of three obscentiy cases against him. The court says he “deserves to be at home, painting his canvases.” Meanwhile, the bemused Husain is making the best of his time in Dubai, while thinking of India - “If things get all right, I’ll go. If they don’t, so be it. What can I do?”

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Speaking of Asian Art, The second annual Asian Contemporary Art Fair is making its way to Pier 92 on November 7th. The Great Nude didn’t have a chance to go last year, but Jeff and Merrel will be walking the floors on Friday November 7th to take in the unique flavor of figurative art from the East.

Fig. 1 Blue Chinese Rose, Shu Yan. Fig 2. Monument of Triumph, Jiang Shuo & Wu Shaoxiang Fig 3. Opening The Great Wall, He Chengyao Fig. 4 Gothic lunatic, Akio Ohmori Fig. 5 x2, Chen Zijun

I find this show a great opportunity to further expand a view of Eastern art. And there is plenty to see! The show doesn’t just feature art from China and Japan, but also Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Korea, India, United Arab Emirates and Macau. See you there!

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Merrel here:

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a Japan junky. I’ve always been fascinated with the culture and language and with it I have developed a carnivorous appreciation of Japanese Art. There is a mystical quality to Japan’s historical artwork that is so uniquely Japanese yet worldly at the same time.

When I lived in D.C. — I had a chance to check out the Freer Art Gallery which houses some great historical pieces of Japanese art, such as the Hokusai woodblock print, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” Noticeably absent though were any of the works of Kuroda Seiki.

A Meiji era painter, Kuroda’s art was an infusion of Western styles painting styles, known in Japanese as Y’ga. (lit. “Western-style paintings”) After studying abroad in Paris, Kuroda returned to his native Japan an accomplished painter, embracing Western styles and ushering a new era of painting in Japan. He was not the first Japanese painter to use oils, but certainly one of the most well known.

Kuroda first public exhibitions in his homeland was during the 4th National Industrial Exhibition in Kyoto. The painting, “Morning Toilette“, was a life-sized nude of a woman standing before a mirror. And though he was awarded a prize for his work, the public decried the painting as an affront to the social and cultural ways of Japan. (Note: Finding image of this painting proved to be very difficult, according the Japanese website for the Kuroda Memorial Hall, “Morning Toilette” was destroyed during World War II.)

"Morning Toilette" - Kuroda Seiki (1893)

By far my favorite Kuroda nude (which is actually 3 nudes) is the namesake of this post “Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment.” The triptych, like “Morning toilette”, featured near life-sized depictions of a nude model.

"Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment" - Kuroda Seiki (1897)

This small picture does not do the work justice. Each panel represents a different emotion and should be examined in detail. On the left is Wisdom, a figure that exudes a vulnerability - as the subject fixes her hair in a downturn gaze. Centered between two demure figures stands Impression, which presents the model in a strikingly honest study, facing the viewer with her arms extended upward. Impression forces the viewer to confront the unapologetic and very-un-Japanese depiction of a woman. The last panel, Sentiment, is subtle like the first panel. The subject appears in a seemingly unstaged contemplative state, and the detail on her face illustrates the subtext of repression of Japanese women during the Meiji era.

It is important to understand the Meiji era was a time of continued subjugation of Japanese women  in the form of strict civil codes that barred any political or social involvement publicly, and further marginalized and prevented involvement in voting, land owning and marriage. Through the lens of this era, “Wisdom, Impression and Sentiment” speaks volumes.

For more about Kuroda Seiki and his life visit Kuroda Memorial Hall Website.

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Merrel here, earlier this week, in honor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, The Great Nude began exploring figurative artist from china. Today I’ll focus on the modern and contemporary figurative artists coming out of China today.

Du Xinjian

To understand Du Xinjian’s work, it is important to understand how he works:

“The world in my paintings embodies all kinds of human desires and ideas. My dreamscapes are meant to evoke an “absent-minded[ness]” towards reality.“

True, Xinjian’s paintings appear as though they have been plucked from an ethereal dreamscape. His images juxtapose the human figure fantastically with the surreal.

Xinjian graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and began exhibiting in the United States in the early 2000’s, including Art Scene New York.  In addition to drawing from the vastness of his imagination, Xinjian also draws on his cultural roots, inspired by the writings of the ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuan Ming.

Much of Xinjian’s work appears fleeting, like the remnants of a dream. The representational human form appears as one may imagine it, a dream state; disconnected, slightly off, yet consistently symbolizing the self.

Xinjian’s works evokes Belgian surrealist René Magritte as both artist place day-to-day objects within a non-ordinary context. For example, Magritte’s 1935 piece La Magie Noire:

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Merrel here:

With the excitement of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the game in full swing, all eyes have shifted to focus on one of the world’s oldest most enduring civilizations in the history of man; China. Unfortunately, the depth and breadth of Chinese art can often be overlooked or dismissed in the Western art world. In honor of the 2008 Olympic games I will explore some of China’s well known and not so well known contemporary figurative artists.

Pan Yuliang

Perhaps one of the most well known Chinese figurative painters, Pan Yuliang was born in the Anhui province in 1895. Yuliang’s painting style was a fusion of Western art techniques balanced by the sensibility of the traditional Chinese art. Her harrowing childhood and life story have been retold and fictionalized to much acclaim. It is easy to see why - she was sold into prostitution as a child, bought by a Chinese official as a concubine whom she later married, she was then encouraged to paint later getting accepted to the Shanghai Art School. Her nude figure works were criticized and viewed as taboo during that period in China, and Yuliang’s work achieved much accolade on the international stage.

Pan Yuliang’s work can be see at the China National Art Gallery in Beijing and The Anhui Provincial Museum in Hefei. Also check out the Jennifer Cody Epstein novel, a fictionalized acount of life of Yuliang, The Painter from Shangai.

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