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Daniel Maidman Sketches from the live nude at TheGreatNude Invitational

Daniel Maidman, one of TheGreatNude Invitational’s exhibiting artists, spent the weekend attending our drawing workshops with Sherry Camhy. Continuing his drawing marathon, Daniel joined our sketch party on Saturday night, and sketched from our two models that evening. We had a chance to ask Daniel some questions on his approach to drawing the figure.

Drawings by Daniel Maidman from the workshops at TheGreatNude Invitational are also available to view.

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TheGreatNude Invitational opens May 14,15 and 16 at The Roger Smith Hotel. Featuring 25 international artists working with the nude. Online Ticketing now available!

MAY 14,15,16 - DAILY ADMISSION: 12pm-6pm, $10.

MAY 14,15 - EVENING ADMISSION: 6pm-11pm, $25.
Includes our SKETCH PARTY featuring Nude Models.

MAY 13 - OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION: 6pm-9pm, $20.

Look for our us in Time Out New York, artdaily.org, and the New York Observer later this week.

(Image: Adam Miller, Scott Goodwillie, Sherry Cahmy, Bob Clyatt, Marc Vinciguerra, Daniel Maidman, Meredith Bergman, and Mary Larsen)

Here’s an appropriate use of the figure in advertising! The FX show Nip Tuck advertising campaigns have consistently used the figure in classic poses, but with  one that captures the reality of one of the United State’s largest businesses; plastic surgery. The billion dollar industry operates under the promise of allowing men and women the opportunity to aesthetically reverse time. The shows advertisements give us glimpses into that mentality, showing it from a first person view, but critiquing the industry in the process. The images used in the show’s advertisements build around the social commentary of plastic surgery but stand as commercialized uses of the figure, as well as being reflective of timeless posing.

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In one advertisement the figure dramatically contours her body accentuating the thinness of her waist. Her weight is supported primarily on the operating table as she balances herself on the thighs of her doctors. Another shows an angelic figure, fallen in the desert, her wings cut from her body, suggesting the once angels desire to sacrifice her gift of wings in exchange for proximity to achieving the ultimate standard in human beauty. The third image was taken by David LaChapelle, an artist once found in the pages of Vogue, now producing pieces that could be considered commercially inspired. In this photo we see a the surgeons reproducing Venus de Milo on a live human form. The live model wears swimwear with wavy blond hair and over-sized sunglasses, looking as if removed from a Florida beach. The superficial elements of the subject as an individual are hinted on, but not overtly emphasized.

An angel having just removed her wings through plastic surgery in an effort to achieve the human standard of beauty

Taken by David LaChapelle this photo shows a woman trying to emulate the Venus de Milo in an effort to achieve a greater degree of beauty.

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Other modern users of the nude form are harder to distinguish in terms of what their objectives are. One such advertiser is The United Colors of Benetton who frequently challenges our conceptions of race and social boundaries. More often than not Benetton seems to generate critiques that their advertising is more shock value but the idea that Benetton might be  conveying a social commentary coded in metaphor above our comprehension levels remains.  One of their ads features a Caucasian newborn ready to be nursed by am African American woman, her head out of view. Another features a wall of multiple portraits of men and women’s genitals; imagery that would be more likely to be seen in a gallery than with a commercial advertier. One thing is clear through viewing Benetton’s advertising; that there is a purpose for its symbolic value, even if that reason is strictly to generate sales.

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In our series The Figure in Advertising, we pay attention to those who are currently using the figure in new and interesting ways. With so many interesting uses of the figure occurring in advertising today TGN felt it necessary to take a look at uses of the figure in the recent past.

One of the first to come to mind is Dove in their Real Beauty Campaign. A direct attack on the distorted perceptions of beauty in advertising, Dove’s approach was to use the realism of everyday people to create art over advertising. They photographed and advertised numerous women fully nude, showing what they believed ‘real’ women to look like.  Dove also launched a video, showing the process of remodeling that a person goes through on a photo-shoot. They then created a billboard for foundation makeup ‘Fasel,’ being an anagram for ‘False.’ The end product helped to show how the divinity of the human form stretches further than what we see on magazine pages.

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Dove's signature ad from their first "Real Beauty" campaign

One of Dove's groundbreaking choices of model

Now showing at the McKee Gallery is “Unique Photographs”, an exhibit of the work of international photographer Richard Learoyd. Running until October 31st, Learoyd’s photographs blur the line between portraiture and painting. Using the figure alongside organic objects, the collection of imagery seems infused with an atmosphere of honesty and introspection. The tonality of his work is quiet and introspective, allowing the viewer to focus on the subtleties of lighting and the nuance of gesture, capturing our imagination in the process.

McKee Gallery is located at
745 5th Ave # 400,
New York, NY 10151

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Unique Ilfochrome print image: 68 x 48in.

Unique Ilfochrome print image: 68 x 48in.

One of the most memorable uses of the figure in advertising is by the organization People for the Ethical Treatent of Animals (PETA) with its “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. Still continued today, PETA recruited prominent social figures such as Christy Turlington and Alicia Silverstone to pose nude under a banner of the campaign slogan.  The dramatic reality of the human form in its most basic state created strong opposition to fur and caught national attention. In this ad, Christy Turlington, who is often photographed in the nude in fashion magazines, uses her body to advance an ethical cause against the use of animal fur, her preference for “naked” over wearing fur in the quotation above her warmly lit torso. Over a twenty year period “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” was able to help reduce the number of fur manufacturer numbers in the US to under 250, about a quarter of their former numbers.

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Christy Turlington's classic pose both honors the figure and raises awareness for PETA

The Bernarducci Meisel Gallery is one of New York’s premier galleries for representational approaches to the figure. They’re always a great gallery to pop into any time of the year. Its been four years since we’ve seen a large exhibition of Bernardo Torrens paintings at this gallery, but on October 1st, New Paintings opens and will remain on exhibit until October 31st, featuring works created by Torrens between 2002-2009.

A master of realist technique with a tendency towards a monochrome palate, Torrens focuses crisply on the surface of his subjects, their anatomical details rendered in an absolutely convincing fashion. Some of his works are introspective compositions, portraits of people we feel we may know, others are more compositional, the model’s pose as the topic. In all of Torrens’ paintings, the technical mastery of the works themselves is an enjoyable thing to witness. Check out Bernardo Torrens this October when you’re passing through Midtown, NYC!

The Bernarducci Meisel Gallery is located at 37 West 57th St, New York, NY.

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"Laura I" 2009 acrylic on wood 25.5 x 20"

"Laura II" 2009 acrylic on wood 25.5 x 51.2"

"Katey I" 2009 acrylic on wood 19.75 x 18.125"

Labor Day Weekend
Jeffrey Wiener

It was late in the afternoon on the last day of the Labor Day Weekend, I was perusing the artisan’s booths at the New Paltz Arts and Crafts Fair with my family. It was a nice pause to a hectic weekend, and a reflective moment after such an arduous summer. We have all been working harder. The sun was setting behind the mountains, the fair was winding down, and many of the artists seemed eager to break down their tents and head home.

I was looking for figurative artists, as usual. Sometimes you can find them behind the crafts that they sell. I have an empathy for the talented artists who also have an entrepreneurial spirit in their hearts. Many of them can be found working the arts and crafts festivals throughout the summer, regardless of the economy, all the while producing marvelous bodies of figurative works.

It’s important to look outside the big cities for our inspirations. Here’s a sampling of the Figurative Arts I found up in the Catskill Mountains this weekend. I’ll bring you more of the works of these artists later this month on TheGreatNude.tv, so SUBSCRIBE to receive a notice about it.

Peter Robinson-Smith creates remarkable, 3-dimensional sculptures from metal wire.

Diane Kline's quick charcoal sketches are fluid and energetic.

Helen Hosking's small statues are jewel-like and peaceful.

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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