TheGreatNude at The Governor's Island Art Fair

CALL FOR ENTRIES: A JURIED COMPETITION for SMALL WORKS

This September TheGreatNude will host exhibition space on Governor’s Island as participants in the 2010 Governor’s Island Art Fair. The art fair will be open to the public every Saturday and Sunday, September 4th - 24th. Getting there is easy by ferry from Battery Park or Brooklyn.

ARTISTS, we are seeking SMALL WORKS in this juried show of nudes in almost any media. Go to www.thegreatnude.tv/smallworks to get more information and to apply online. Application Fee is $20. Commission on sales 40%. Space is limited. DEADLINE is August 20th.

Application Fee: $20.
Jurists: Scott Goodwillie, Robert Curcio, Jeffrey Wiener
Deadline: August 20, 2010

CLICK for MORE INFO or to APPLY>

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)

Peruvian artist Kukuli Velarde makes her debut at Barry Friedman LTD with an incredibly visceral show, making excellent use of the nude in her art. With boundless imagination and unbridled drama, the works are intimate, soulful compositions that are difficult to pass by. I highly recommend that everyone in the New York area make a point to expose themselves to the strong presence that is Velarde’s work.

The exhibition debuts Velarde’s work in two mediums. The first being her terracotta sculptures, and the second being her paintings on brushed aluminum. The sculptures are vessels to an antique nature, displayed as evidence unearthed from an anthropological dig. Entitled ‘Plunder Me Baby,’ the sculptures presentation, with museum-like signage, provokes an association to an indigenous cultures’ reaction to European colonization and subjugation. Each piece is categorized as to estimated date and region of ‘find.’ They are listed uncommonly, containing a quick description of personal quirks (”Bites, likes tough love”.) Both startling and amusing is the personification experienced from each piece’s face and limbs. Kukuli’s grasp of expression is remarkable as her sculptures appear if as on the verge of coming alive.

In her paintings - the ‘Cadaver’ series - Velarde uses images of conquered peoples in the context of European cultural and religious imagery. The expressions of the subjects, in comparison to Velarde’s sculptures, are less playful, but are equally as powerful. Referencing modes of accepted Western beauty such as the classical Venus, Velarde literally tries on their “skin”, inserting herself as the model in most of her primary figures. There is an uneasy marriage of cultures here, which is what makes this exhibition work so well. There is both homage and disgust, piety and betrayal, using Western culture and its iconographic art as props to make her own contemporary statements.

Finally there is a video of her late father with whom she shared a very strong bond, her passion as artist especially apparent in this emotion-filled work. Kukuli surrounds the projected video with wall drawings, referencing the time that her father caught her drawing on the wall of their home. He sensed a talent in his daughter which he encouraged over the years. The homage is creative and touching and the exhibit as a whole, remarkably fresh. Dad would be proud.

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Vigilandote, Cadaver Series, 2004
Acrylic and Oil on Steel Plate
72 x 48 inches

Sculptor Antony Gormley has continually impressed us over his more than quarter-century career as a visual artist. In most cases Gormley uses his own body as the main influence for his work, creating structures that radiate energy through his varied use of medium, and shape. Having shown all over the world, Gormley has recently finished an installation in Manhattan’s flatiron district.

The installation consists of a series of thirty-one statues, camouflaged on rooftops in the surrounding area. Each weighs close to 3/4 of a ton. They are designed to overlook the Flatiron district from different angles, creating a visual flow. Gormley did a similar showing in London in 2007.

Walking through the Flatiron district, you would almost have to know where you were looking to see the ominous works. Standing in the central partition, across the street from the Flatiron building, the statues gaze down on you powerfully, overwhelming you with a sense of greatness, growing as you continue to discover the works that appear to be greatly aware of you prior to your discovery of them. Provocative, and glorifying of the human form through its borderline abstraction, Gormley’s works are a manifest piece of culture, waiting to be discovered.

Click here for the New York Times article on Gormley’s exhibit.

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Song, forged ball bearings, 2008, 86 x 86 x 60cm.

TheGreatNude Invitational - May 13 - 16, The Roger Smith Hotel

Due to the great amount of interest in TheGreatNude Invitational, we have rescheduled the event at The Roger Smith Hotel for May 13 - 16, 2010 - allowing for the participation of some great artists and galleries, and making this event truly exciting for the Figurative Arts community. Check the site for new information and regular updates at www.thegreatnude.tv/invitational

Artists Odd Nerdrum, Richard T. Scott, Scott Goodwillie and Adam Miller have joined the exhibition, along with a number of galleries representing some of the world’s most well-known figurative artists, including Forum Gallery.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that Peter Trippi, editor of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine and renowned art critic Donald Kuspit, have joined our Host Committee. Click to Read More>

Galleries, Curators, Artists Groups & Art Schools who wish to exhibit at the Invitational will be happy to know about several new developments. Early payment Discounts available. Click to Read More>

Sincerely,
Jeffery Wiener
Publisher, TheGreatNude.tv

Forum Gallery is a favorite gallery to visit in mid-town for lovers of the figure, and it’s current exhibit does not disappoint. The Platonic Ideal, running October 1st to November 28th, includes almost thirty painters, sculptors and artists, with many pieces offering contemplations on humanity through the figure. The works fall into three main categories, paintings, sculpture and on paper works.

Of the paintings in this exhibit, several artists working directly with the figure are well represented. Reflection by William Bailey welcomes the viewer into the gallery. A female figure gazes at us, toying with her hair, her figure framed by the balance in the lines of the room surrounding her. Nearby, Prelude by Alan Feltus is similarly infused by lines, yet the tense figure in this painting is an echo of the surrounding chaos of objects surrounding this figure. Suite for Piano by Carlo Maria Mariani is a musical number - so to speak - the floating woman in this painting radiating a creative energy and physical motion.

William Bailey, Reflection. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in.

Alan Feltus, Prelude, 2008. Oil on canvas (47 1/4 x 39 1/4in)

Carlos Maria Mariani, Suite for Piano, 2008. Oil on canvas (50 x 31in)

Of the sculptures shown in The Platonic Ideal we saw a nice selection of early 20th century figurative sculpture. Torso by Alexander Archipenko is a wonder of simplicity, the smooth flowing lines of the the form moving into each other. Other works in this show were Female Head by Elie Nadelman and the monumental Centurione Petrificato by Igor Mitoraj, a large antiquated head, of seemingly Roman origins, and clearly heroic. Hugo Robus‘ The General, Dawn, and Elie Nadelman with Woman Dressing Another Woman’s Hair, make complete use of the figure, depicting scenes and emotions that show the expressive nature of figurative arts.

Alexander Archipenko, Torso, 1948. Terracotta (24 inches high)

Igor Mitoraj, Centurione Petrificato, 2008. Bronze (44 x 24 1/2 x 18 1/4 in)

Hugo Robus, The General, 1922. Polished bronze (19 x 19 1/2 x 7 3/8 in)

Edie Nadelman once again gains our attention with her ink sketch Untitled, showing a rough depiction of the form in motion. Philip Evergood’s At Nebuchandnezzar’s Court, a mixed media painting showing multiple figures strolling about, is a light-hearted tangent to the show’s other, more seriously contemplative works.

Philip Evergood, At Nebuchadnezzar's Court, 1927 Watercolor over pencil on paper.

Elie Nadelman, Untitled, 1912. Pen and black ink on paper (17 1/2 x 12 1/2 in)

Forum Gallery is located at
745 5th Ave # 503, New York, NY 10151

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Jim Kempner Fine Art sits prominently on the Northwest corner of 23rd st and 10th Ave. The gallery is known for its representation of talented and successful artists; a literal and figurative corner-stone for the Chelsea art scene. So it was a great surprise to see a large nude figure stretching herself in their expansive window overlooking 23rd street. Even better was that it was one of Carole Feuerman’s latest works.

My first encounter with Feuerman’s nudes was decades ago, as a young boy in Miami. On one of my father’s art safaris to the local galleries on South Beach, he brought me by the shirt sleeve, up close to one of her startlingly realistic sculptures. The quality of realism in her works is still a remarkable thing to encounter as an adult. On many occasions since then, I’ve seen crowds of people in public gathered around her works, taking pictures. Its easy to see how one can get lost in contemplating the possibility that a human hand created the sculptures you see before you.

In her current exhibit: Carole Feuerman: Swimmers, Bathers, Nudes, we encounter her powerful works in new scales, smaller than life and quite larger than life figurative works that still defy belief. Even when unbelievably off-scale, these sculptures are still startlingly believable in their appearance. Feuerman’s choice of scales also forces the viewer to see the human body’s various surface details in blushingly close proximity. To the student of anatomy, this is an opportunity to observe human beauty in great detail.

What I most admire about Feuerman as an artist is her dedication to figurative works over the course of her long career. Aside from achieving a technical mastery of her medium and world-wide acclaim, she is still dedicated to depicting beauty in its most honest, straight-forward fashion.

I’m thrilled that her work is on exhibit in New York; this is a must see, and open until October, 31.

Jim Kempner Fine Art
is located at 501 West 23rd Street

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Monumental Shower. Sculpture, oil and resin. 59 x 48 x 29in.

Tree. Sculpture, oil and resin. 57 x w 35 x 40in.

The Survival of Serena. Sculpture, oil and resin. 42 x 80 x 38in.

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 is the first Post in our new series on TheGreatNude.tv exploring the use of the Nude Figure in Advertising. Check back for more posts in several days.]

The cover of Time Out New York’s recent Museum Issue featured a modern take on the famous statue, Discobolus of Myron. Also known as The Discus Thrower, the original work has been lost but numerous recreations have been made since the original’s creation in 450 B.C. The earliest known copy now sits in the Natural Museum of Rome. Discobolus revivals have altered in medium (the original was done in bronze), size, and in some cases with variations on musculature and facial features. In all of its incarnations, The Discus Thrower is still one of the most recognizable art works in Western History.

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Discobolus of Myron. Also known as The Discus Thrower

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''