copyright (c) Michael Berkowitz

Michael Brekowitz is an artist in every respect.  Until recently, he had been known as a sculptor and performance artist.  Finding inspiration in 19th century erotic photography, Michael began photographing nude portraits.  What was initially a diversion between exhibitions of his more serious work, photographing the nude quickly became his new focus but he preserved those early creative outlets into his approach to photographing the nude.  He controls every aspect of his image. There is a common creative element that runs through all of Michael’s nude photographs that is in no doubt due to his interest in the “power and necessity of religious ritual and its theatrical qualities” as he states on his website.  Indeed, there is a strong theatrical element in his compositions.  His models, elaborately clad in jewelry and costumes, become erotic goddesses that inspire desire and appreciation for beauty.  Initially Michael would utilize props, fabrics, laces and furniture that he had collected from all over the world over many years to set his stage.  As his need for creative individualism progressed, he began designing his own costumes, masks and jewelry tailored to each model.

copyright (c) Michael Berkowitz

Micheal’s models come from all walks of life.  Most are often amateur models with no prior modeling experience.  Some are young women in their early twenties, others are mature and into their 50s.   There is an everyday beauty to them.  In a society often obsessed celebrities and the idealized form, Michael’s models remind us that it is equally beautiful to be natural and comfortable with who you are.  Scars are not hidden and wrinkles are not masked.  His models are of many different ethnic backgrounds.  He has photographed women with a variety of body shapes that range from thin and sculpted to the smooth form of the slightly overweight.  In spite of the vast variety of body types, ages and personalities available to Michael, the one trait they all share in common is their desire to explore their sexuality and display their nude bodies so that they can see themselves are they truly are and yet simultaneously become goddesses.  The majority of the nude portraits photographed by Michael have been women but he has also photographed men, couples and transgenders.  Michael’s nude photographs are an ode to the naked body, a celebration of the human form.

Mature Beauty

Copyright (c) Michael Berkowitz. From his Mature Beauty Series.

The idea for Michael’s latest series of work titled Mature Beauty came to him while he was filtering through model ads of 40 and 50 year old models.  What particularly stood out to Michael was their apologetic tone for not being young, skinny or perfect.  It’s hard to say whether this self-defeating language was do to prior experiences or just a general perception that you had to look a certain way to be considered beautiful.  Needless to say, there is certainly beauty that comes from years of aging and experience.  In his new work, Michael has demonstrated in an elequant collection of photographs the inability of age to deminish the radiance of the female nude form.  I am particularly fond of this collection because it articulates how self confidence, regardless of age, is extreamly attractive and does no less to inspire.  We must embrace the changes that take hold of our bodies and admire them for what they are and not how they once were.

For more about Michael Berkowitz and his collection of work, please visit his website at http://www.michaelberkowitz.com.

A Co-project to establish a contemporary Sexy Art Gallery (La Gallery Provocatrice) at the Erotic Museum in Amsterdam. The Museum in the Red Light District will be the first that offers a platform for contemporary artists through Sexy Art Gallery to expose and sell their erotic artworks. The project is an initiative of the people behind the Erotic Museum and Zaki & Shiren Silverman (curators Sexy Art Gallery) and will give permanent base to artists from all over the world. The project is a unique concept that aims to link artists, press, new media, and people like you and me.

The first exhibition ‘21st Century Sexy Art‘ is an ode to new sexuality. With emphasis on the global sexual awakening on the World Wide Web as well as in the privacy of our homes.

Artists:

Mario Sughi (Ireland) - Bob Coulter (USA) - Dorian Drake (UK) - Jeff Wack (USA) - Matteo Alfonsi (France) - Carolyn Weltman (USA) - Beatrice Morabito (Italy) - Francesco DIsa (Italy) - Hector Domiane (France) - Jeffrey Richter (USA) - Dorian X (Italy) - Valerio Pierbattista (Italy) - Lior Ron (Israel) - Kronos (USA) - Erin K. Lenchner (USA) - VANGYN (The Netherlands) - YoniLab (France) - Clément Collet- Billon (France) - Kaji (USA) - Kris Wlodarski (UK)

Grand opening 10th December at 8pm – 12pm

Live painting performance by the artist Hector Domiane

Music by DJ Adam BEN ADAM & DR. Or

You are cordially invited to the opening of this exhibition. There will be a possibility to speak with the curators, management and the artists and to make pictures.

If you wish to attend the event, please inform us before 5th December via e-mail to office@janot.nl or office@sexyartgallery.com - We will send you an invitation to the vernisage at 10th December.

Sexy Art Gallery at the Erotic Museum (3rd floor)
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 54 Amsterdam
Open daily 11am – 1am, Fri and Sat until 2am

For more information, images or an interview please contact us via:
office@janot.nl, office@sexyartgallery.com
Office Museum : +31 (0)20 6231834 or SAG +31 (0)643596234
www.sexyartgallery.com, www.janot.com, www.eroticmuseum.nl

Venus: Copyright (c) Jeff Wack/ Sensuous Muse Collection

Jeff Wack is a California based artist who specializes in digital photography and digital airbrush painting where he blends the two modern mediums to create superb works of dream like nudes.  By utilizing all that digital technology has to offer, Jeff is able to express his artistic vision by creating nude works that defy placement to any given time frame or setting. This is by design.  By eliminating references to pop culture or iconic references of geography or architecture, Jeff has created nude digital paintings for his Sensuous Muse series that are timeless.

Jeff began expressing his creative side with film based photography over 15 years ago.  In addition, he has utilized acrylic paints to create paintings on illustration board as well as acrylic over-painting on photographs.  With the movement to digital photography, digital imaging became a natural progression.  Jeff draws on this experience in implementing digital techniques.  Jeff points out that painting, whether via a traditional brush or a digital drawing tablet, “uses the same hand movements”.

InnerSpark: Copyright (c) Jeff Wack/ Sensuous Muse Collection

For his nudes, he begins with 5-6 digital photographs of a model in various poses.  He may utilize parts from these different photographs to achieve the desired pose and/or effect.  Jeff then digitally paints to seamlessly mold both realistic and fantasy components, often placing his lovely subject in fantastic landscapes.  The careful execution of his technique often leaves observers wondering what elements are “real” and which are not.  This is a wonderful gift in Jeff’s paintings and it requires careful examination of his work to fully appreciate.

Jeff admits that his nude paintings are idealized.  They feature toned, and very attractive, models.  The settings are dreamlike featuring color enhanced/ digitally altered landscapes.  The overall mood of his paintings is serine and peaceful.  Perhaps this stems from his fondness for classic nudes where nudes are often idealized in both physical proportions and setting.

Jeff Wack works in L.A. as a professional illustrator and has done work for major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios and many other Fortune 500 companies.  Work from Jeff’s Sensuous Muse Collection is available as large 11 ink archival giclée prints and canvases. To contact Jeff about his work or for select private commissions, click on the banner below to visit his web site.

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2 Nights - Friday the 13th, at 7pm to 11pm & Saturday, Nov. 14th from 6pm -11pm

The Dirty Show will be featuring a completely uncensored exhibition featuring the erotic work from many of the biggest names in modern erotica.

Location:

CITY CENTER MOTEL
1135 West 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90017

For more information, please visit the official site of The Dirty Show

Artist Jacquelyn Bond will be displaying 13 of her favorite paintings this Saturday October 10th at Gallery 14 in Sacramento California.  The reception is from 6-11pm. If you are in or will be in Sacramento during the reception, please stop by and show your support.

The show will run from October 10th through November 8th.

The nude, or the naked body, is something natural.  We all have experience with the naked body.  We are born naked.  When we bath, we wash our naked bodies.  Some admire their own form in the mirror.  Others are ashamed by it.  Regardless of how we feel about our own nudity or that of others expressed through art, the human nude is completely natural, pure, and a part of who we are.  It is our society that has clothed the body.  It is our society that has blinded us from our natural form.

Society’s reaction to the nude can at times be shortsighted by the simple fact that it is a nude.  The installation Michael McGrath’s sculpture titled “Paradigm Shift” earlier this year caused controversy for some due to its nature. The bronze sculpture of a nude woman crouching was installed on June 12th at the Burien/ Interim Art Space (B/ IAS) in Seattle Washington.  The primary concern seems to stem from the fact that the art space is outdoors and easily accessible by anyone including children.  The art space is adjacent to a new library which further concerns parents.

The nudity of this sculpture is very tastefully done.   The work is exquisite.  I have a particular soft spot for work of this level of accuracy and detail.  There is no attempt to idealize the female nude.  Instead, the sculpture is honest in its representation.  The woman is crouched with her legs apart not to expose herself but to assume a more naturally balanced position.  Her right arm drapes down and covers her sex.  Her left arm is bent, her elbow resting on her thigh and her hand touching her chin in a very pensive manner.  The statue reminds me of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” not because it mimics the iconic nude male thinker, but because like Rodin’s statue, McGrath has powerfully depicted an emotion or cognitive process we can all relate to, i.e. being lost in thought or thinking.

Art is interesting and powerful in its ability to provoke emotions and reactions.  The nude has long stood at the center of controversy.  I would hope that as we progress in our understanding of our very nature that we can come to not only accept but cherish works that reflect and celebrate our physical selves.

Revenge
by Ellen von Unwerth

Publisher: Twin Palms Publishers
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN 1-931885-14-1
Slipcase Edition: ISBN 1-931885-19-2
Boxed Edition: ISBN 1-931885-28-1

Revenge is a great pleasure to behold.  The 236 page cloth bound hardcover is more than just a collection of black and white fine-art nudes and erotic photographs loosely tied together by a common theme, subject or local as many fine art photography books tend to be.  Instead, the images work together, each frame chronologically progressing a story of domination, submission and, revenge.  In essence, the book is a novel told quite literally via photographs.  Of course every photograph tells a story in-and-of itself.  But the collective sets this book apart.

Shot entirely in black and white, Revenge is as much a study of the female form as it is a study of sexuality and eroticism.  The photography ranges from the flirtatious and erotic playfulness of skimpily clad girls undressing and playing in a garden to controlling and domineering fetishes that involve mild bondage and domineering acts.  Clothing supplied by Gucci, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino among many others give the collective an overall feeling of a high society erotic fantasy.

The book is very dense with photographs with very little text for such a sizable publication.  In fact, only 25 pages (including the table of contents and publishing and credit information pages) contain text.  Revenge is a personal favorite and is defiantly worth adding to your collection of fine art photography books.

Ellen von Unwerth is a German born photographer who specializes in erotic femininity.  She currently works as a fashion, editorial, and advertising photographer.

American artist Spencer Tunick has given new meaning to creative landscapes by utilizing numberous nude bodies and natural landscapes to express his creative vision.  Often utilizing hundreds of nude men and women as (in his words) “raw material”, he paints his landscapes with the nude bodies and records the transformed land with photography and/or video.  His installations evoke strong reactions.  His work transends social, political, economical or racial boundaries.  His nude participants are from all walks of life and of  various shapes, sizes and races.  My personal reaction is that his use of such a diversity of nude figures opens our mind to our own selves, as humans and our common origin as children of Earth.  You may experience a similar reaction but more than likely, and you will have an entirely unique experience.  That is the beauty and challenge of art.

For the most recent instilations (Dublin - Cork), visit http://www.tunickireland.com/index.html

In early April, the Michael C. Carlos Museum opened its doors to a fascinating statue of Aphrodite, believed to be one of the most widely reproduced statues in antiquity.  This particular statue is held to represent a significant and important time in art history.  The statue at the Michael C. Carlos Museum dates back to the 1st century B.C. and is part of a nudity revolution in ancient Western culture where the female nude, whether divine or not,  was becoming much more commonplace in artwork.  In a sense, it is an example of the female nude being depicted in an open manner.

In addition to its significance in art history, the statue has an interesting history of its own.  When the Michael C. Carlos Museum acquired it in mid 2006, it was without a head or right arm.  In fact, the last document of the head being attached to the body was in 1836.  The head was likely separated from the body during its transit to New York sometime after the Second World War where the two pieces were mistakenly believed to not have been a part of one another.  In 2006, the connection was made by an observant Sotheby’s employee and the owner of the head was contacted.  The owner of the head agreed to sell the head to whoever purchased the body.  Once the Carlos Museum had both pieces in its possession, an extensive restoration was undertaken to reattach the head.  The 4 foot 6 inch statue is now on display at the Carlos Museum at Emory University and can be seen at the following url <http://carlos.emory.edu/venus>.
The Michael C. Carlos Museum is administered by Emory University.  To learn more about the museum and its exhibits, visit its website at http://www.carlos.emory.edu/.

Image
http://carlos.emory.edu/venus

Sources:

http://antiquesandthearts.com/AW-2006-06-20-11-04-36p1.htm

http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=27035

http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=27064

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13307223/

"The Surge: Picasso And I Would Agree" by Allen Schmertzler. Visit the artist's site at www.allenschmertzler-artist.com

The Kingstad Gallery is offering significantly reduced prices on artwork by select artists through May 30.

The Kingstad Gallery is the largest privately-owned exhibition space in the Portland metropolitan region and presents the work of internationally exhibited Pacific Northwest artists.  For information on the artists and their work or offered workshops, please contact gallery director Lora R Fisher 503.626.6338 or  Lora@kingstad.com.  Visit the Kingstad Gallery website at www.kingstad.com.