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Gallery exhibit covers 100 years of nude photography

Exhibition compares, contrasts nude photographic works

The work of world-renowned photographers such as Edward Weston and Robert Mapplethorpe grace the walls of Etherton Gallery in a show that covers more than 100 years of nude photography.

The show highlights the diversity of approaches and techniques used in the genre, displaying works whose intentions range from academic study to glorification of the human body as an object of beauty.

Eadweard Muybridge's "Plate From 'Animal Locomotion'" (c. 1880) presents a naked man swinging a bat in 16 frames. Prior to the advent of the cinema, such works were astonishing in their ability to capture motion and the body's intricate shifts in weight.

The presence of Muybridge's literal and documentary approach to the body in a narrative is beyond educational in that it segues into the portion of photography that relied on mythology and other historical narratives to justify the presence of a naked body.

Dr. Max Thorek's "Helen of Troy" (c. 1936) presents a man and a woman in the moment before a kiss. The image implies a story line of erotica and adventure as the woman's drapery unfolds to reveal her breast and their bodies appear to be swimming in an atmospheric space.

John Guttman's "Two Women Attracted" (1937) removes mythology from the narrative depicting its subjects lounging on the bed, enjoying one anthers' presence in a non-sexual, playful manner. The graceful composition offers the work an impeccable sense of serene tranquillity.

Rather than being organized in chronological order, the exhibition is grouped according to similar subjects or formal concerns. Next to George Holz's "Claire with Moosewings" (1986) - a photograph that places the viewer hovering over a woman lying on moose antlers - is Gandenzio Marconi's "(Academic Nude)" (c. 1870) - a high contrast photograph of a nude model posed as a goddess with wings.

Robert Mapplethorpe's "Untitled" (1980) is one of many photographs which focus on the architectural beauty of the human form. The work presents a close-up of a female torso in profile - creating a hard line between the flat background surface and the sharp edge of the body which mimics a vertical landscape.

In a similar vein, Mona Kuhn's photographs "Nikki" and "Yoanis' Circle" (both 1999) highlight the bone structure hidden by human skin through dramatic lighting. Her ambiguous emphasis on hand gestures induce a sense of potential versus kinetic energy, as well as unity of the body.

Other works, such as Jack Welpott's "Sherry" (1980) seem more implicitly sexualized and objectified. The female lies on her side in the privacy of a home, legs open, arms over head in a gesture that has historically served to indicate availability. Her bent knee guides the viewer to the window where a landscape recedes.

Such images reflect upon the western inclination toward linking women with nature. Flor Garduno's "Agua-Valle Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico" (1982) evokes the paintings of Gauguin with its scantily-clothed, dark-skinned woman standing in an eddy surrounded by burgeoning vegetation and a waterfall.

Sally Gall's "Geometry Lesson" (1997) is more concerned with intimacy than social or historical considerations with its truly elegant portrayal of a couple's legs and feet on a bed. The soft light and subtle blending of surface tones muster the essence of nostalgia and intimacy.

The success of the show, running through May 31 at Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave., lies in its ability to collage the sensibilities and interests of more than 40 photographic personalities. The show simultaneously exposes and pays homage to social barriers as they have evolved through time with the photographic nude.