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OK, I know this may be beating a dead horse, but I just wanted to share an angle on this I recently took. Also, I realize there are people from all walks of life, and some other cultures are more open, and others are even more conservative... but all I really know is American culture, so that is what I'm speaking of.
Yesterday I visited the incredible Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Amidst the other famous and not-so-famous artists were a few incredible Reubens works. If you're not familiar with Peter Paul Reubens he was a Flemish Baroque master from the 17th century. His most famous subjects are full figured female nudes (though all of his work is beautiful) which is where the term Rubenesque to describe what we now refer to as BBWs.....
As I stood in the gallery looking at this incredible piect of history and art, with nude breasts staring down at me from this impressive canvas, I was not in the least bit offended. Nor was I offended by the marble sculpture of a nude woman and man lying down amidst some rocks... Then I stepped into another room and there were more nude breasts looking down at me from their elevated positions on the gallery walls. Why did these fleshy female protuberances not offend me? Or the flacid male parts for that matter? Perhaps it was because these artists did not present it in a sexual or deviant way. It was not meant to incite arousal, rather to show the natural human condition... we came into the world nude and no one thought it obscene... we were only immediately wrapped up to keep heat in, not because of humility and shame.
Why is it then that nudity becomes shameful? Is it because we feel so vunerable while standing au naturel.. all secrets exposed.. all imperfections, scars, and bumps visible to all who care to look? Or is it because the human body is intrinsically shameful and only meant to be seen by our most intimate of partners? Why do we (American culture) view breasts as not horribly offensive, but the exposed nipple means X rated? And if an exposed nipple in public is criminal, why then can classic art be viewed without censor bars? Don't those black censor bars protect my innocent mind and thoughts? Oh, wait... I was always curious to see what was behind that black bar when I was younger, so I looked around and found it.. amazingly enough it didn't scar me for life or leave me tormented mentally. I saw and understood the human body, then the mystery was gone.
Now, to bring discussion (if you've read my rantings this far).. What defines art? Is a public display of nudes offensive in a metropolitan art district? Is a naked male body offensive in the kitchen, living room, bedroom? Where are the lines drawn for you personally, and why?
Yesterday I visited the incredible Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Amidst the other famous and not-so-famous artists were a few incredible Reubens works. If you're not familiar with Peter Paul Reubens he was a Flemish Baroque master from the 17th century. His most famous subjects are full figured female nudes (though all of his work is beautiful) which is where the term Rubenesque to describe what we now refer to as BBWs.....
As I stood in the gallery looking at this incredible piect of history and art, with nude breasts staring down at me from this impressive canvas, I was not in the least bit offended. Nor was I offended by the marble sculpture of a nude woman and man lying down amidst some rocks... Then I stepped into another room and there were more nude breasts looking down at me from their elevated positions on the gallery walls. Why did these fleshy female protuberances not offend me? Or the flacid male parts for that matter? Perhaps it was because these artists did not present it in a sexual or deviant way. It was not meant to incite arousal, rather to show the natural human condition... we came into the world nude and no one thought it obscene... we were only immediately wrapped up to keep heat in, not because of humility and shame.
Why is it then that nudity becomes shameful? Is it because we feel so vunerable while standing au naturel.. all secrets exposed.. all imperfections, scars, and bumps visible to all who care to look? Or is it because the human body is intrinsically shameful and only meant to be seen by our most intimate of partners? Why do we (American culture) view breasts as not horribly offensive, but the exposed nipple means X rated? And if an exposed nipple in public is criminal, why then can classic art be viewed without censor bars? Don't those black censor bars protect my innocent mind and thoughts? Oh, wait... I was always curious to see what was behind that black bar when I was younger, so I looked around and found it.. amazingly enough it didn't scar me for life or leave me tormented mentally. I saw and understood the human body, then the mystery was gone.
Now, to bring discussion (if you've read my rantings this far).. What defines art? Is a public display of nudes offensive in a metropolitan art district? Is a naked male body offensive in the kitchen, living room, bedroom? Where are the lines drawn for you personally, and why?
