Brutal Edges and Tender Surfaces: An Exhibition Arousing Gender-based Interpretations

Abstract

In 1997, I installed a photographic exhibition in a gallery in the heart of the capital city of the United States. This exhibition, depicting, so I thought, lovingly rendered and abstracted black and white photo-graphs of my husband, received critical reviews from gallery visitors whose interpretations differed from the documentary perspective that I had envisioned. For example, according to Oda (1997), a middle-aged male reviewer observed “[these] works convey a sense of male objectification, in which the act of covering or exposing the male torso feels like a submissive (rather than aggressive) act relative to the gaze of the artist/viewer. Thus does the artist wind up addressing gender issues” (p. 19). Oda’s published review postdated the reactions that I observed from a number of visitors during the opening reception. I observed with surprise, that most senior and middle-aged men appeared uncomfortable when they entered the gallery, or they changed directions and did not set foot beyond the front door. In fact, my father, in his early 70s, a man who owns a collection of works depicting nude women, has suggested on numerous occasions that I would be advised to remove one particular photograph of my husband, “Wing #1,” from our living room walls. (See Figure 1.) He recognizes that male nudity was important in ancient Greek and Roman times. But he believes that in modern art history, portrayals of female nudity are more frequent and thus, more accepted. Depictions of male nudes occur less frequently, and thus raise cultural concerns about their acceptability. After querying him, my father explained, “The recent attitude reflects a common feeling that it is not ‘manly’ for a man to have an interest in the male body (of others). And this, conceivably, may have its root in an unconscious concern that one might be considered homosexual if one were too interested in the depiction of other males. For example, Thomas Eakins did a number of paintings of male nudes, and even though Eakins was married it has been suggested that these paintings reflect a homosexual tendency on his part” (R. Basseches, personal communication, March 22, 2006). In further discussion, my father wondered, “Do younger men have the same reaction, or have the mores changed in this regard?”