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02 February 2008 @ 12:02 a.m.

It's been a long time, almost an era before I last logged onto diaryland. As you may all know, I have turned into an art fanatic and decided to use some part of diaryland as my playground for art writings. So here it goes:

NB: This is PG rated because of nudity content. Since I don't have a strong knowledge on Medieval and modern art, I will have to exclude examples in those periods.

Nudity has been a significant theme throughout history and visual arts, which represents the continuation of a generation, religious contexts and satisfaction of one�s pleasures. However, where nudity is regarded as a noble, religious form of visual art in the Western world since the medieval period, it was considered a taboo in East Asia until the 20th century. In this article, I will focus on nudity from the Renaissance and 20th century East Asian contemporary art. I will also examine the reasons for the East and West�s different treatment of nudity through three contexts: religious significance, power and beauty and cultural beliefs. In the West, nudity is a representation of realism and celestial beauty, especially in the Greek and Christian tradition. One should note that he cult of Parthenon Gods and Goddesses ultimately portray them with human qualities, in the birth of Gods and Goddesses, and sexual conquests or scandals with mortals and deities. For instance, in Botticelli�s �Venus and Mars�, although Venus is unusually clothed, the revelation of Mars�s bare chest muscles, and widened legs covered by a sheer tunic shows Venus�s successful sexual conquest of Mars, as the widened legs hinted his erection. Such implicit postures symbolize Venus as a Goddess of Love and her association with sex. (I am not going to list Venus and Zeus�s rundown of illegal sexual acts here, I will have to count them on my fingers and toes.) However, religions in East Asia tend not to emphasize physical quality of their Gods and Goddesses, but rather their divinity. We can see that in the sculptures of Buddha in Bamiyan before their destruction, when the symbols of Buddha�s serenity, enlightenment and knowledge play a much more significant role than his physical attractiveness. In the exceptional case of Zanabazar�s �White Tara�, the deity is semi naked to distinguish her celestial qualities, such as her slender waist and protruding chest that showcases her godly beauty as an ideal representation of beauty. Further, being painted is an exclusive luxury that nobles crave in Europe. To them it seems, they wanted to be commemorate as a beautiful, almost perfect individual through their human attractiveness, not just their power and status. Thus we see a series of paintings such as Titian�s �Venus of Urbino�, where Titian demonstrates his perfection in depicting human anatomy with her round breasts and swirling hair that makes her almost a Goddess like figure. On a more gruesome note, Rembrandt�s anatomy pictures demonstrate the vividness and realism that early Renaissance brings: the cut up stomach of the lying man marks a historical development, where the Dutch can master such advanced medical techniques, and artists can capture the realism of human parts so beautifully. (The picture is not that pretty by the way, make sure you eat your lunch beforehand.) Even though East Asia experience the universal turbulence in wars and colonialism, few reasons why nudity is forbidden is because of their cultural ideals, colonialism and repression from the emperor. To more prudent Asians, only prostitutes would expose their nudity so publicly, they feel that such intimacy shouldn�t be shown. Yet, this didn�t stop people from having concubines, or paying frequent visits to the brothels. Besides, who wants to tarnish their reputation as the womanizer? We should also take note of the cultural context in East Asia, where government officials are highly respected, and unlike the Renaissance, artists belong to the bottom of the income pyramid. This belief is possibly developed in the Tang dynasty in China, where the emperor has devised an intelligent way to deter and repress rebellions, as he incorporate science, literature, philosophy, calligraphy and writing (the skills to compose elegant poems really) to the rigorous rounds of exams and interviews that will make one a government official. The result? Individuals invest much of their time to practice elegant calligraphy and study. * However, we cannot ignore the one similarity between Renaissance and East Asian nobility in their expression of power and status. Be it hats, silk robes, or imperial motifs of dragons and the sun, a portrait of the Qianlong Emperor* and Raphael�s portray of Cosimo de Medici both showcase their power and status in their extravagant, royal attire and luxury to commission portraits of themselves. The transformation of East Asia expressions essentially comes from the West, when their openness leads to idea that individuals should employ nudity to �foster a healthy relationship with the body.� This begins a series of paintings, such as Le Pho�s �portrait of a nude woman.� Therefore, gradually, East Asia art slowly catches up with the West in this form of visual representation. However, we should take in mind that sometimes, such visual representation pave way for exploitation, such as MAXIM, and hentai that exploit human beauty, but rather degrade it into explicit erotic representation.* In conclusion, perhaps, this was shaped by cultural ideals, or perhaps, by an art revolution? * Maybe this explains the emergence of Asian stereotypes in certain subjects? Now I also see that it is history that makes us study so hard. *I am not completely saying that it degrades the body, but sometimes it appears that models are exploited that way. Bernini�s Daphne and Apollo establish a much more elegant, polished erotic effect than this explicit, sometimes sluttish presentation. *I had insomnia after doing this (writer's syndrome, sigh), so next time, I would probably write about another topic that can make me sleep.