Nudity Tuesday

Nicole.Yalowitz

November 03, 2007 by Nicole.Yalowitz

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On Tuesday Herron School of Art and Design's young professional group Culturati hosted an event along with Indyhub at the art school. The current show in the main gallery is a collection of contemporary photographs from the Kinsey institute in Bloomington. Catherine Johnson- Roehr, (pronounced "rare") curated the show from the art archives at the Kinsey institute. Catherine started the evening with a lecture. Our events always include some kind of educational component. This was quite educational, nothing is better than watching the Church Lady doppelganger explain how hair was glued onto the 19th century strap-on. She gave us an in-depth history of the institute founded by Dr. Alfred Kinsey. The Institute relies exclusively on donation to maintain its collections. The ephemera collection is amazing and we only saw a small sample. After the lecture we went into the gallery to peruse the photographs. Great Cooks catered the event and BARcelona Tappas provided sangria. The sangria was welcome but unfortunately quite bland. The photographs were far from bland, and precautions had been made in the gallery lest anyone be tainted while innocently walking through the halls. The glass doors to the gallery were frosted and actually looked quite nice. Catherine told me that this show was the tamest they had put on. Yes, there was a great deal of nudity but, we are all nude under our clothes. The breakdown is; most of the photos were of people doing everyday things or in everyday situations, just without clothing.

Forum: Talk

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Kinsey Institute, Herron School of Art and Design, Culturati, indyhub, photography

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1 comment

Shimmercore
Shimmercore, November 5, 2007
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In the concept of displaying nudity at an art gallery, I often wonder how people are supposed to react and ingest the visuals according the photographer. In society, we cover ourselves and display an individual outlook through our clothing styles, often times inticing sexuality or professional behaviors in the perspectives of people that surround us. Nudity breaks down the illusions and barriers of how we judge one another since we're all naked underneath these illusions. However, nudity seems to inspire the dual sensations of repulsiveness and sexual attraction simultaneously. How we are wired mentally filters one or the other of these sensations. Clothing is a prozac to these sensations. How are naked photos in an art gallery any different than pornographic pictures? Not that I have anything against pornography, but the levels of shock, disgust, and lust seem to be a recurring theme in many nudist photographers of contemporary times.

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