Sana Rose, Contributor
'SENSUOUSLY NUDE', a collection of works by five well-known and fairly well-known artists, is currently on view at Wonderland Fine Arts Gallery located on the Red Bones Blues Cafe property in New Kingston.
The artists Christopher Gonzalez, Lois Lake Sherwood, Carol Crichton, Gene Hendricks Pearson and Vivienne Logan present paintings and drawings in paint, pastel and charcoal.
Of the group, Crichton is represented by one drawing; Lake Sherwood by two works in pastel, her medium of specialisation; Pearson & Gonzalez by three pieces each (Pearson choosing to showcase pastels rather than clay this time around) and Logan affectionately called 'Viv' outshines all the others in volume with five oil paintings that are also the largest pieces in the show.
REALISTIC REPRESENTATIONS
Unlike the stylised bodies of Pearson & Gonzalez, the women veer more towards the more realistic/observational representations of the body. Overall though, it is the Classical nude body championed by Greek art that prevails as inspiration and blueprint for the nude body. Particularly in Logan's case, she emphasises the youthful, slender, toned physique of her female subject that bears a striking resemblance to her own face especially in the painting, 'Enigma'.
In keeping with most artists of bygone eras (excluding the Greek and even Renaissance artists who patterned the Greeks) and with the present age to a large extent, it is the female nude that is repeated in each work in the show. It is only in Gonzalez's 'Courting in the Garden' that uses as its model the age-old theme of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, that the male nude surfaces and, of course, he is accompanied by the female as theme suggests.
AROUSING SENSES
The title of the show, 'Sensuously Nude' brings the 'public' body into focus to arouse our senses certainly from an aesthetic point of view and perhaps even physically. This is not to be confused with sensual that deals with physical, sexual pleasure although this could be a by-product. From the title we also note that the nude body on show contrasts with the naked body that refers to a heightened psychological/emotional awareness of the subject (and even oneself) stripped bare of its airs and poise, left vulnerable with all its imperfections and feelings.
Nude on the other hand, connotes the objectified body, posed and packaged in a non-personal way. In this show then, the nudes presented should stimulate our sensory faculties.
While Gonzalez makes an attempt at infusing content in his three pieces nude on the level of the erotic it is only on the surface and does not dig deep enough to convince of a more meaningful idea. Logan makes a stronger attempt at conceptual thought, straddling the boundaries of both nakedness and nudity. While her subject can be seen as a nude, she infuses each painting with a narrative that reflects to some degree, psychological/emotional states of being. It is an interesting interplay that could be strengthened further for more decisive impact and interest. The figure either rests in a defined environment as in a section of a bedroom seen in 'Breakfast in Bed' or in an ambiguous space depicted in 'The Gathering Storm'.
On a formal level, Logan, Sherwood and Crichton invite closer scrutiny with respect to their adherence to the more Classical representations of the body that calls for strong observational and drawing and painting skills. The men escape this examination due to the level of stylisation in their pieces which is far more pronounced in Pearson's works than in Gonzalez's. At this formal level, we become aware of the body's proportion, the illusion of form, space and light, all of which are somewhat tentative in both Lake Sherwood's and Logan's paintings.
AMBIGUITY
The successful (convincing) representation of light on the skin is a great challenge to both artists. In addition, colouring the black body is also problematic as there is ambiguity in Lake Sherwood's pastels as to whether they are black or white figures while Logan struggles with a kind of dullness in her oil on linen images. She uses brown (local colour) but needs to mix in other hues to bring out the vibrancy of the skin. On the other hand, Crichton's sole work in the exhibition shows an artist with a greater understanding of form, light and space.
'Sensuously Nude' does not fulfil its initial aim of totally awakening our senses. We are not aware of the nude in any new or interesting way. However, we can appreciate Logan's attention to concept though we wish she were more resolute in her intentions in pushing her ideas as these can take her work to another level along with greater focus on formal weaknesses that currently serve as distractions.
The exhibition continues this week.
