Bod/Ident

BODY


1. What is the difference between “naked” and “nude?”

Both words have their root in the Latin “nog.” I think this debate can be a question of semantics: “naked” can only be used as an adjective where “nude” can be both an adjective and a noun. Below is a painting of naked people or a painting of nudes.

Philip Pearlstein

The diverse connotations in the 21st century art are minimal where feminism has deconstructed the perpetual “male gaze” in art. I believe Michelangelo’s “David” is a nude : thus a depiction of an idealized form.

Michelangelo's "David"

Nakedness:

as a noun does not involve being human: (being without addition, concealment, disguise, or embellishment/ being exposed to harm.)

Nudity:

put on display: an unclothed human figure (noun); especially in an artistic representation. Source: Webster’s Kenneth Clark, the critic who wrote The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form, “ believed that nude forms are the admirable equivalent of Titian’s Venus; they are ideal forms of art, while naked bodies are just their embarrassing, real-life counterparts.”


2. Why is it necessary to challenge a persistence of a feminine ideal in contemporary culture?

Why do women often put themselves in their artwork?

In terms of female power both artistically and physically it is a necessary phenomenon but I think it is has come about by larger underlying issues starting in the mid-twentieth century: the necessity of shifting of gender roles, and pressures from a re-organizing global economy.

Orlan

Ellen Gallagher

IDENTITY

3. Is memory a “mutable identifier” (EP), that can come from the well of images and the collective consciousness?

I think it is a connector to universal commonalities, which can make artworks more accessible and personally relevant.

"Filette" Louise Bourgeois

“Breaking down identity is a valid way of making a statement about the fact that at our core we are all human beings.” Madison

4. Are there really benefits to joining a group aside from community?

Yes, but there may be rules and a price to pay that might make one feel they are jeopardizing their integrity. Can you have it both ways? No, I think you have to make a choice.

5. "Power structures come into play when both humor and stereotypes are involved." Celine

I agree with this and that is why it is very tricky to use humor as a leveler when addressing identity in terms of power. It can be a momentary fantasy eschewing the pain of : women, marginalized peoples and other oppressed minorities.

"I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY BLACK PEOPLE WERE CALLED SPADES, AS OPPOSED TO CLUBS. BECAUSE I REMEMBER BEING CALLED A SPADE ONCE, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT; NIGGER I KNEW BUT SPADE I STILL DON'T. SO I TOOK THE SHAPE, AND STARTED PAINTING IT."

David Hammons in regards to sculpture below:

David Hammons

Colescott is using stereotypes in his work (below) but it is important that he is a black artist claiming these stereotypes thus empowering himself/culture identity as opposed to the use of these stereotypes being depicted by a white artist or an artist from another ethnic group. He has license.

Robert Colescott