Throughout August and September Vitreous Contemporary
Art looks at the resurgence of figurative painting. As contemporary
artists focus more and more on resonance and feeling it is inevitable
that the one subject that perhaps they feel the most intimate with
should feature heavily in their work.
It is often said that the human figure is the beginning
of all art, as children it is one of the most recurring themes in
our adolescent sketching. The classic human form was established
by the early Greeks and Romans in sculpture, which was taken a step
further and painted onto canvas by the artists of the Renaissance.
This lead to a period of experimentation where the Pre-Raphaelites
explored the sensuality of the nude figure and then the surrealists
manipulated the human form in every conceivable way.
In Victorian times the nude figure was the source
of much controversy but never has there been a time when it was
depicted more extensively from numerous paintings to photography
and mass-produced illustrations. However as time has passed the
unease surrounding images of the human form has remained fairly
consistent and hasn’t dissipated, as one would expect. Several
exhibitions in recent years, particularly in America have made outright
bans on nude paintings appearing and the sight of a naked human
is a rare occurrence among modern contemporary galleries.
Despite this the human form continues to endure
and remains a source of much admiration for artists and art enthusiasts
alike. It is a credit to the artists who continue to represent this
difficult subject so well and are able to capture authentic expression
and demonstrate an understanding of human emotion.
Jake Bose, Vitreous Contemporary
Art
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