Look, if you’re reading this it means you’re on the internet, which means you’ve definitely seen some nudity in your time. This is wonderful; the human body is a beautiful thing and should be celebrated.
But have you ever wanted to see nude art, while naked, with a bunch of other naked people?! Lucky for you, the annual Sydney Festival has announced a special performance of Nude Live, a collaboration between Sydney Dance Company and Art Gallery of New South Wales for a nude-only audience.
The premiere event will come as part of AGNSW’s Nude: Art From The Tate summer collection of more than 100 artworks spanning two centuries of nudity. Specifically, six naked dancers will respond to paintings, sculptures, photographs and works on paper by artists such as Pablo Picasso Lucian Freud, Henri Matisse and Louise Bourgeois. This means the subject matter could range anywhere from Matisse’s rather-fitting Study Of A Nude to whatever the hell is going on in Picasso’s Women Of Algiers.
And as interesting as the program itself sounds, which runs intermittently throughout January, the requirement that all attendees come to Nude Live in their birthday suit could only foster a more direct exploration of the human body; what would honestly feel stranger, dancing nude or watching naked dancers while also nude?
“We all respond strongly to images of the unclothed body because they address issues at the heart of who we are as humans – issues of love, desire, mortality, truth and power,” AGNSW head curator Justin Paton said.
Nude Live opens January 23rd at the Art Gallery of NSW for people 18+, and you can find out more here. Finally, for anyone worried about hygiene/seating arrangements/personal space, the event will be standing only.
Source: Sydney Festival.
Photo: Peter Greig.
