Magazine

The concept of nudity carries a complex mixture of feelings, ideas, ideals, and expectations. It is the gauge by which some measure worth, the baseline from which some measure life, and the finish line for which some measure victory. Nudity strikes a familiar, but different, chord for each of us. This wide range of ideas and feelings around nudity makes it a powerful theme for a group exhibition. 

On May 9, 2024, I attended the opening reception for The Naked Show. The Naked Show showcased the work of 15 InLiquid artists around the bare human form. The variety of works featured in The Naked Show each represent the artists' relationship with the human body; either others’ or their own, and the range of ideas, emotions, and beliefs they evoke. Inseparable from the human body is the human experience, which is heavily represented throughout the exhibition. The eclectic mix of perspectives, mediums, and interpretations featured in The Naked Show result in an exhibition marked simultaneously by serious self-reflection and assessment of oppressive systems, joyful whimsy, and clever imagination. 

Memories—both public and private—shape our perceptions of nudity. Susan Lowry’s mixed media collages (Align and Taken) deconstruct then reassemble Romanesque images of bodies, reimagining the ways these figures interact with one another and the viewer. Elissa Glassgold’s works transmute childhood experiences and fantasies into fixed reality, using blacks, grays, and whites to layer dream and memory. Untitled (gouache) and A Girl Will Fly (pencil) both position human forms within dream-like nature scenes inundated with texture. Daniel Dallman’s detailed oil paintings arrange the naked form as part of the landscape. Instead of the focal point, the nude figures in Dallman’s works are humanized, made a part of a composite moment in time. Model and Artist suspends in time an ordinary, passing moment between artist and subject, and Contemplation of Contrasts places the object quietly in the background, facing away from the viewer.

Turning pain into art, Florence Weisz’s collection of post-surgery photo collages (My Left Knee 1-4) are a slight deviation from her usual work, yet still reflective of her iterative and reflective creative process. Weisz’s photo-based collages served as a distraction from the pain of recovery by offering a different perspective of the source of the pain. In our brief conversation, Florence stressed the importance of photography—and art, generally—as a way to remove oneself from an experience and take a more objective approach to it. Similarly, Brian David Dennis’ w/t second summer is a series of nude self-portraits that reinstate the human form into the natural world. Bodybuilding poses captured at various points of the day characterize each photo’s title (aspire, dusk call, westward, and pointe) with blurred anonymity. 

John Wind’s My Surfboard (The Secret Life of Jesus Consalvos) is an ode to fantasy and the exploits of youth, as well as a rejection of the physical ideals of white supremacy. A collection of personal ephemera pasted onto the front of a surfboard reflect upon a life of exploration, both external and internal. The back of the board is a release of the standards and desires of the male form. In an expression of a linked struggle, D’nae Harrison’s Life Lines collages paint and natural materials. Living, organic, round shapes balance the scales against sharp, patterned lines and edges. A refusal of the hypersexualization of the Black female form, Harrison’s use of soft yarn, and warm tones create a shield from the oppressive gaze of a world hellbent on misjudgement.

In an ever-evolving exploration of womanhood, nature, and aging, Katharan Siegeil’s wood sculptures lay these experiences bare. Naked and Lady of the Rocks personify an outward journey to redefine and reclaim womanhood in a changing body. The use of smooth and textured surfaces in these sculptures assert Siegell’s skill and process while simultaneously representing her recent life changes and experiences. Kathleen Greco’s photographs also intend to address the complexity of womanhood. Push embodies the constant and opposing demands placed upon women, the subject trapped in fabric, somehow bound by both the fabric and the environment itself, all captured within an endless frame. The use of different mediums to explore similar concepts results in the kind of specific, yet varied positions drawn out by The Naked Show’s prompt.

The back corner of the gallery feels like a secret conversation between the artists; Emily Potts’ Bubble Gum Guy sits facing open palms, a fraction of the substance and size of the human forms after which it was molded. Combining familiar feelings, themes, and objects, Bubble Gum Chair recalls imagery of Bubble Gum Guy alongside abstract forms and seated in a chair, back facing the viewer. Between these representative pieces are Carol Taylor-Kearny’s Peep Show and Robert Zurer’s Leda and the Swan. Peep Show immerses viewers in colorful, complex imagery, layered collage over a back-painted window pane, blurring the distance between viewer and art, peeper and peeped. Zurer uses oil paintings to separate human form from its own humanness by dissecting it then intertwining it with nature. Leda and the Swan depicts the nude form in direct convergence with nature. These four pieces create a cove of abstract and stratified meanings. 

Many of the works depict nudity as vulnerability. The vulnerability evoked in these works presents an opportunity to consider one’s own vulnerabilities and their relationship to them. Nancy Gordon’s oil painting captures a moment of reflection from both artist and subject. Maria Sitting on a Red Bench expresses a serene atmosphere in contrasting blues and reds. In Susan Wallack’s Reclining Nude (acrylic), a dark, contrasting background highlights an exposed and vulnerable naked form. This same vulnerability is mirrored by the subject’s contemplative gaze. Sarah Allen’s Light Along the Side and Folding photographs use light and shadow to strike viewers’ emotions. Darkness—or light, depending on the viewer’s vantage point—cloaks each subject to capture the gentle balance of strength and vulnerability. 

Nudity can be a polarizing concept. For some, the naked form is a source of shame and indignity. For the artists featured in The Naked Show, nudity is a tool for self-exploration and expression. Pieces selected for this show ranged from explicit to suggested nudity, exploring a few of the many ways humans get naked. The varied perceptions and experiences in this diverse collection of works are the greatest appeal of this special member exhibition. The Naked Show creates space for self-reflection and an opportunity to find a version of oneself in the works of others.