GROTTO (Edition of 100)

Shot in a grotto attributed to the celebrated landscaper, Capability Brown, the composition evokes and subverts a recognisable classical scene in which a male deity is surrounded by adoring nymphs. In this update, the single nymph is carved in stone, surrounded by yielding Apollos of flesh and blood. These Apollos evoke the vulnerability of Polyphemus as they clutch the porous rocks for support and recline unashamedly on slabs of stone. Rather than adopt a coy averted gaze, they embrace our interest as they relax against the rock and look directly into the viewer’s eyes. 

Section 2: FORM from our Seeing Men Exhibition

From the Classical world to the contemporary era, the nude form has a long history in art. While this has given the nude some acceptability, it has been within heavily defined parameters.    

Most tellingly, when we think of nudes in art, we think of women. Images featuring the male form disrupt our expectations. Here, male bodies parade in protest against the patriarchal rules and values that have kept them out of sight, or visible only on carefully curated terms.   

Our relationship with our bodies might seem like a simple matter, but the nude in art shows that it is in fact quite complex, steered across the centuries by religious beliefs, aesthetic ideals, and rules of sexual morality.  

Each of these five images references established traditions in art while consciously or unconsciously subverting them all to redefine the nude form in art.