ELEMENTAL BEAUTY: A STUDY OF THE NUDE IN WATER
May 26 - June 21, 2020
“This curation aims to explore the artist’s worldview through the motif of the nude in water and its significance as a symbol of the human form in its most basic, elemental form.”
“There is nothing in all the world more beautiful or significant of the laws of the universe than the nude human body”
The Selects Gallery is pleased to present a collection of fashion photographs which explores the artistic world of fashion photographers through the lens of the nude in water.
The nude is one of the most recognized motifs in Art History, dating back to the oldest forms of human creative expression. While there is a tendency to focus on the body itself as an object of sexuality and eroticism, nude photographs contain rich environments and narratives that are loaded with meaning. The nude in water is a motif in which the model is presented in their most fundamental human form - no makeup, clothes, or props. Thus, the nude in water presents an opportunity to understand an artist’s worldview and their relationship to the human form at the most basic, elemental level.
This exhibition contains works by world-renowned fashion photographers such as Paul Bellaart, whose works depict an organic relationship between humans and nature, Greg Lotus, whose highly stylized nudes explore the body as a geometric form, Sylvie Castioni, whose feminine photos combine softness with a powerful life force, and Kenneth Willardt, whose work combines a sense of freshness with spontaneity and ease. By focusing on the nude photos in water produced by these artists, the Selects Gallery aims to invite the viewer into their artistic universes.