If an army of fully stripped people galloped down our street right now, we’d probably think, “Oh, that Spencer Tunick is at it again!” So what does it take to liven up this photography genre? Contemporary photography like Miru Kim’s nude jaunts has become iconic, but how many nighttime rooftops and decaying buildings does a girl have to climb to make a statement?
The newest photographer to join these ranks is Erica Simone whose series Nue York at Damon Dash’s New York City gallery opens next month. Let’s take a survey of the contemporary risk takers whose work toes the line between exhibitionism and fine art and how they evolve and stand out. Grab a jacket. It might get a little nippy.
We know you love us, but it’s impossible that you’ve read everything that we’ve posted this week — unless you’ve got a really boring temp job, subscribe to our RSS feed, or have internet access in a low-security prison. To that end, here are links to ten of our most popular stories of the past week. Enjoy these links, and have a happy holiday weekend!
Miru Kim is fearless. She ventures into places to make her art that most of us would neither enter nor risk arrest to be in: underground tunnels, sewers, abandoned factories, power plants, the tops of bridges and churches. Once she arrives at these hidden and desolate places, Kim explores the setting, finds the best point of view, puts her camera on a tripod, and removes her clothes — in order to take some of the most engaging photographs of the moment.
The nude has a rich history in art, and its use as subject matter is constantly evolving, especially in contemporary photography and video. Spencer Tunick uses naked bodies to create installations of flowing flesh in public places, which he captures in photography and exhibits as prints; Katy Grannan finds her subjects via classified ads and photographs them nude or provocatively clothed in the privacy of their homes and in nature; and Pipilotti Rist puts sensuality center stage in her surreal video fantasies, where fruits, flesh, and flowers merge to create moving installations. Read More »
