Fluid Forms

Collector's Focus Art of the Nude

By John O’Hern

Stephen Early was the studio assistant to the late Nelson Shanks at the Art Students League of New York and is now on the faculty of Shanks’ Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. Studio Incamminati was founded “to meet the express needs of students eager to learn the aesthetic and philosophical techniques and principles of humanist realism.” Shanks said, “It’s not just a boring exercise in pushing oil paint around a canvas. It’s a way of opening a threshold to an exciting new world of vision.”Principle Gallery, As Instincts Lie Dormant, oil on linen, 19 x 20", by Stephen Early.

Often, in Early’s figure paintings, there is a translucent turquoise wall that challenges perception. Translucent but barely transparent, but sometimes more one than the other, the low wall transforms the figures on, in front or behind it. The figure in his painting As Instincts Lie Dormant drapes gracefully over the wall, her thigh and arm barely visible behind it. The smooth, sinuous figure contrasts with the rough geometry of the turquoise wall and the warmer wall behind it.

In Erin Anderson’s painting Convergence, the background is another thing altogether. It is the copper plate on which she has painted a nude portrait. She says, “The metal substrate and paint work in concert to communicate layers or levels of reality: one that is easily perceived and directly in front of us and one that can be felt and is dynamic or changing.” The intricate swirls emanating from the figure and coming in from without suggest a continuity of energy. The lone figure in the field of copper swirls is anything but isolated. She is one with herself as well as with the universe.Patrick Earl Hammie, Labor II, oil on linen, 42 x 96"

Erin Anderson, Convergence, oil on copper, 48 x 36"

EVOKE Contemporary, Raconteuse, fired clay, 35 x 24 x 30", by Kristine Poole.

PoetsArtists, Yemayah, acrylic on linen, 56 x 36", by Victoria Selbach

The figure itself bears inscriptions in Kristine Poole’s life-size sculpture Raconteuse. The artist writes, “Raconteuse, a teller of stories, is a chronology of anecdotes from my life that in some way have defined how I see myself or are significant to my experience of identity. She symbolizes continually seeking, then finding one’s path in life. The words form a continuous pattern and texture over her surface in the same way that the stories we frequently tell about our lives form a pattern of how we see ourselves and wish others to see us.” It is said that every person’s story is written on their face and on their body but that most people can’t or don’t read it. The elegant hand and arm gestures and the model’s intense expression suggest an attempt to communicate those stories.PoetsArtsits, Burst, oil on Dibond, 20 x 16", by Shana Levenson

PoetsArtists, Rituals, oil on canvas, 40 x 30", by Heidi Elbers.

Lotton Gallery, Tranquility, oil on canvas, 16 x 36", by Marina Marina.

Patrick Earl Hammie explores relationships in his series of paintings called Significant Other. The often-monumental paintings—Labor II measures nearly 4 by 8 feet—deal with monumental subjects, the preconceptions and the nuances embodied in gender and race. He works to expand our understanding of identity. Always beginning with occurrences in his own life, he began the series in 2010 at a time when he and his wife were getting married, joining together and forming a partnership. He says the series involved “thinking through some of the ways that we perceive women and people of color, particularly in painting. It offered an opportunity through allegory and a series of works to reposition some of those expectations and start a new dialogue.”Lotton Gallery, Morning Bliss, oil on canvas, 20 x 28", by Aydemir Saidov.

Martin Eichinger, One With the Universe, bronze, 60 x 20 x 16"

Martin Eichinger, Three Options are Open, bronze, 50 x 23 x 22"

Hernan Miranda, Alicia, mixed media, 32 x 48"

Historically, in painting, the heroic nude male dominates the submissive nude female. In Labor II a man surrenders his assumed role of being in control to a centered, nurturing woman. They are both nude. Perhaps they can be seen as naked, not being imbued with the otherness of the classical nude but the exposed and vulnerable individual. The narrative is given greater depth by the male being black and the female being white. Just as the female was objectified in historical art, Hammie confronts the objectification and denigration of the black male.

This special section dedicated to the art of the nude is an exploration of the human form. Its subtleties, nuances and expressions are brought to life in an array of styles and mediums, displaying the individuality of each artist featured.

Lotton Gallery in Chicago represents Russian figurative artists Marina Marina and Aydemir Saidov. Marina and Saidov are a married couple that paint in the same style of figurative realism. The hands, feet and face, undoubtedly the most difficult to paint, are highlighted front and center. For the delicate part of the figure, especially with nudes, neither shies away from intricate details such as the small of the back and tenderness of soft, supple skin. Fabrics of many textures dance and make patterns around the body creating soft lines.

“Figurative paintings, especially nudes, evoke emotions of love, romance and the beauty of the human form,” says Christina Franzoso, director of the gallery.Hernan Miranda, Break Time, mixed media, 70 x 52"

A K Nicholas, Open Bonnet, photograph, ed. of 10, 30 x 20"

In Portland, Oregon, is Eichinger Sculpture Studio where artist Martin Eichinger creates his dynamic figures. “While most people recognize me as a ‘figurative sculptor.’ I consider myself a ‘narrative artist.’ Much of my work involves abstraction and technology to help set a mood and convey a poetic sense of story,” Eichinger says. “It’s the concept that connects my heart and soul to those who experience my work. I hope my sculptures inspire conversations about ideas, about our spirits, our aspirations and our sense of community. My goal is to involve viewers in the idea behind the art and to inspire reflection. Although the aesthetic value of my work is important, it is the emotional and contemplative impact that makes me feel occasionally successful.”

Artist Hernan Miranda says he has a more pragmatic approach to realism. “I like to be closer to the codes of the painting than the photographic representation,” Miranda explains. “I seek to stimulate visual perception, working the illusionist aspect of the image.”Stone Sparrow NYC, Taste of Sparrow, ceramic, glass eyes and feathers, 21 x 20 x 18", by Susannah Zucker.

Leonid Plekhanov, The Source, oil on canvas, 31½ x 71"

Stone Sparrow NYC, Conjure, ceramic, glass eyes, epoxy resin, cast glass, feathers and paint, 41 x 27 x 12", by Susannah Zucker.

John Cutruzzola says, “As an artist I live in the illusion that art needs to say something and steers up emotions; I do not pretend to pose neither the intellectual nor the technical ability to accomplish the task. However, I will continue in the illusion...at least for my personal gratification in order to find the desire in the motivation to continue [to] enjoy the work that I do.”

Among his paintings is Rose by any Name, where the title is a reference to Shakespeare. Of the work, the artist says, “Inner or external beauty, when real, [can]radiate anytime and anywhere.”

The PoetsArtists organization, spearheaded by Didi Menendez, has many talented artists as members including several who often paint figures, such as Heidi Elbers, Victoria Selbach and Shana Levenson.

Elbers, who grew up around New Orleans and the swampland, creates paintings that are a fusion of Mardi Gras costumes, the bayou and the magic of southeastern Louisiana. “The extravagant outfits
I create for my models transform them into mystical beings while fur, feathers and foliage bring a natural component or something more elemental,” she says.John Cutruzzola, Sunny Dreams, oil on canvas, 38 x 28"

John Cutruzzola, A Rose by any Name, oil on canvas, 48 x 34"

John Cutruzzola, Mimí, oil on canvas, 45 x 28"

Selbach’s work Yemayah represents fecundity and the vastness of motherhood. “Brought to the New World by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, she has been venerated for centuries as Protectress during the middle passage of slavery,” she explains. “Yemayah exemplifies active feminine energy, the very source of all life, the power of the ocean, the fury of destruction and is the agent of all change.”

The inspiration behind Levenson’s artwork is the strength of women being accepted for who they are and overcoming difficulties. “Some of my paintings are personal diaries of my own life and some are of the people I am painting,” she says. “I try to capture each person with pure honesty, making each piece come to life as if you could have a conversation with the person looking back at you.”