Naked or Nude?
You Should Own Art, Edition Fifteen
Some updates
Before we get to the art, here’s some stuff to know:
The Y.S.O.A. website is getting better. I’ve been steadily adding more artists, galleries, websites, and auctions to help you can search out art yourself. Someday, it’ll be easier to navigate - but that day is not today. Regardless, it’s a pretty good resource, do give it a browse → www.youshouldownart.com
A new feature is coming! The next edition will contain a brief profile of an artwork that’s owned by a real, non-oligarch, person. We’ll learn why that work is meaningful and what it’s like to live with it.
The Y.S.O.A. Instagram continues to exist. Ok, it’s not as pathologically updated as the IG algorithm might demand, but I’ll be using it to share works that I couldn’t squeeze into the newsletter edition. So, it’s worth adding it to your social media deluge → @youshouldownart
About this edition
It’s safe to say that artworks centered on the unclothed human body have always been freighted. But let’s just agree that now, in the early 2020s, the subject is extra challenging. As a society, we’re in the midst of a reconsideration of what we are seeing when we look at each other. We are trying to shed the warping weight of centuries of preconceptions, based on terrible imbalances of power, that color how we perceive everything associated with the body: gender, beauty, sex, status.
As an artist, I can tell you there is something profoundly compelling about drawing, painting or sculpting the body. It’s incredibly intricate to render, and to produce an image with human weight and character is deeply satisfying. And yet, when an image is created as art, it becomes an artifact of the culture - and everything that comes with it.
So, how should we think of this genre of art? The best guidance I have found is from the British artist and critic, John Berger who tells us that:
To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised for oneself. To be naked is to be without disguise.
This works for me. The artworks that I find most powerful have truth in them; they are unflinchingly naked in what they express. Conversely, I find works that depict an ideal, regardless of subject and quality of execution, feel contrived and hollow.
For this edition, I tried to select artworks that depict subjects that are ‘naked’ in the sense that Berger means it. I have avoided the tropes of the ideal, and instead looked for works that reveal something about their subject, or their creator.
All that said, ‘Nakeds’ seems like an awkward term for a genre of art, so we’ll go with ‘Nudes’. But, we’ll mean ‘Nakeds’.
Last note, Berger is famous for his book and BBC series “Ways of Seeing”. You can see the full series on YouTube, it is truly fascinating. The quote above comes from Episode 2 which is a straight beat down of the depiction of women throughout so much of the history of art.
Please note: all images are the property of the artists.
“Shadow 6”
Onyis Martin
Graphite on Paper, 11 x 15 inches
USD$491
The sparsity of this work gives it a sense of real vulnerability and isolation. It’s not a happy image, but it is real. Onyis is doing interesting things, I feel like it has a similar spirit as work by Marlene Dumas. You can buy this work here.
Onyis’s Instagram
Onyis’s Saatchi Art page
“Alas”
Gal Schindler
Oil on panel, 30 x 15cm
GBP£800
I’m really interested in Gal’s work. Her work, like this one, all have moments of really delicate workmanship amidst some pretty big and broad gestures. This will only get more interesting over time.
You can buy this work here.
Gal’s Instagram
Gal’s website
“Sketch”
Oleksandr Shcherbyna
Charcoal on Paper 19.7 x 27.6 inches
USD$200
This is most classical and “academic” of the works that I selected, but c’mon. This is a sketch that is very much alive.
You can buy this work here.
Oleksandr’s Instagram
Oleksandr’s Saatchi Art page
“Meat On Her Bones”
Marcella Colavecchio
Print, 11" x 11"
USD$25
Just wow. The extreme color and framing takes the figure to an almost abstract place. I’d love to see the original IRL.
You can buy this print here.
Marcella’s Instagram
Marcella’s website
“Throat Singer II”
Zack Zdrale
Oil on panel 5.5 x 6.25 inches
$50
Zack is one of our living masters. His finished, more formal work is big time breathtaking. This little number is study for a larger work, but still just awesome.
You can buy this wee work here.
Zack’s Instagram
Zack’s website
“Marthe in the Garden”
Matt Saunders
Aquatint on paper, 50 x 39.5 cm
Signed by the artist, Edition of 50
This print is composed around a photograph of Pierre Bonnard’s life-long companion, Marthe de Méligny. I’m a fan of Bonnard, so this particularly resonates with me.
Incidentally, I found this at at BORCH Editions, a print studio that works with really exciting artists. The work there is just gorgeous and special.
You can buy this work here.
Matt’s Instagram (possibly)
I couldn’t find a website, but you can see more of his work on Artsy.
“A Sitting One”
Agnieszka Staak-Janczarska
Oil on board, 16.93 x 12.41 inches
USD$827.02
The setting is an artist’s studio. The subject is an artist’s model, who is there to pose. Yet, this seems candid and entirely unposed. It’s a remarkable image. It is also a masterful bit of painting.
You can buy this work here.
Agnieszka’s Instagram
Agnieszka website (some really lovely work)
“Under the Light”
Yoso Koh
Oil pastel on canvas, 40.5 x 32cm
GBP£730
I love works with a super graphic quality like this one. Everything about the figure is expressive. There’s lots to see here.
You can buy this work here.
Yoso’s Instagram
“Le modèle”
Adrien Holy
Oil on Canvas, 21.9 x 15 inches
USD$774
I couldn’t find too much about Adrien Holy other than that he was a Swiss painter born in 1898 and died in 1978. This painting is from 1957. It feels like an artifact from a time when painting was changing radically. Pretty amazing.
You can buy this work here.
Instagram hashtag
“There is a fountain of peace in each and every one of us. #3”
Alex San Vik
Acrylic and pastel, 21.9 x 15 inches
USD$550
This is another really simple, but really elegant one. I love the color and the composition.
You can buy this work here.
Alex’s Instagram
“Katia”
Geneviève LeBel
Charcoal on Cardboard, 12 x 16 inches
USD$430
I think this is my favorite of the bunch. There is so much character invested in this image. It’s a tangible bit of life.
You can buy this work here.
I couldn’t find an Instagram account or website for Genevieve that I had much confidence in, but you check out more of her work here.
And that’s that for this edition. I truly hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll explore the work of the artists represented here. I’d love to hear your feedback, you can simply reply to this email - or you can leave a comment below.
Also, please, tell your friends to subscribe. They like art too.
Wow, some amazing and wildly affordable work here! Very excited for the profile “what it’s like to live with” feature.