Hi everyone,
I have a quick question. I am new to art fests and was wondering the etiquette on displaying women's breasts in a painting. It will be very tasteful, such as in the victorian nude attached. She will be nude from the waist up, and will be depicted as a mermaid. I hate to have to cover her by adding long hair, but if I must, then I must. THANK YOU for your input:) P.S. I have checked the rules and regulations of the art fests, and did not see anything relating to nudes. It is the Columbus Arts Fest and Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.
Comments
I do not believe that any of the shows in the South that are geared for fine art will censor tasteful nudity, even if the rules claim the show is "family friendly." Tasteful nudity isn't inappropriate subject matter and I know that's a debateable subject, as has already been proven in this thread. By showing it, you might have someone in the crowd say something to you, but it will be few and far between. I've been showing it for a long time and have had only three incidents. One happened in the South, in Tallahassee. One happened in Wichita, KS. The other in Casper, WY, but it was just a warning that maybe the museum might not be able to exhibit one of our works for the four months, but then they did it. Two completely nude children sitting on a ledge beneath a starry sky. They showed it and no one complained or filed a law suit.
We're currently on tour and have done two shows. The first in Fairhope, AL last weekend and the second this past weekend in Gulf Breeze. We have a large nude on the front panel that captivates most everyone. It consists of six different people, mostly from the waist up. All completely unclothed. We won awards at both shows and also sold well. No one complained. Most people are emotionally moved because of the work. It reveals the human condition in a new and compelling way. It isn't inappropriate nudity.
I'm in Jacksonville, FL this coming weekend, then Chattanooga next. Then Tallahassee then Hilton Head for our last show the last weekend in April. All southern USA shows.
I'm from the South, born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1965. So I'm southern. But I moved from the South 21 years ago. I have lived in the same home for the past 21 years in Wyoming. I did not move to Wyoming because of its politics, either. I had no idea about its politics when I moved here. It's quite the conservative place, but nudity in art doesn't present a problem for folks in Wyoming at all. The folks are open minded, not closed minded. We've even had some published recently in the newspaper with a circulation throughout the entire Big Horn Basin. Also in Billings, Gazette, which had a very large circulation when it was published in 2002. They published nude art right there in the pages for everyone to see, because it is tasteful work. These are ranch and farm communities. Small communities. And people know we are fine respectable people. We are a bridge for them between metropolitan life and rural life. I have equal respect for their values as they do for mine. We live harmoniously.
Cindy thanks for your perspective on this. I think I am going to go ahead and give my mermaid a try at an art fest. I am going to bring some Post Its just in case;) Worst case scenario I guess I will have to take her down.
I am from the south and have lived here all my life. I don't know that people from the north can ever understand us, much in the same way we cannot understand northerners. I have never seen ANY nudes in shows where I've been, not that I've gone looking. However with the way we try to walk the shows at some point I believe one of us would have noticed.
Most of the shows I've been in have a part that says all items sold "must be family friendly." Most families down here don't want their kids seeing nudes so it would not be considered "family friendly". I know the nudes mentioned here are not of the pornographic variety but families don't want to have to shield their kids eyes from it. Call it prudish but that is how is down here. It doesn't make anyone right or wrong, it's just how it is.
I don't hang nudes at this time, but they were a major portion of my display at one time with a similar number as Chris Maher. I seldom had any complaints made verbally, but I could tell that some patrons were put off by them and would leave quickly from the booth. OTOH, these folks weren't ones likely to buy my other work regardless so it made little difference in the end. Be prepared to talk and discuss the work, and you,all be okay. BTW, your reference print looks more like an early 1920's image rather than a Victorian period.
I did a show in Elkhart somewhere about 23-24 years ago, and had come off an earlier show in Ft.Wayne where I had some people yelling and screaming at me because they were offended by some work I had. The nudes weren't the offending pieces, but they received some secondary slaps, as it were. Let's just say I was in the middle of a conservative area moreso than the rest of the conservative state. An older gent walked into my booth and looked around disapprovingly. I was outside so it wasn't obvious I was the offending artist. My name was signed on everything so I don't know how he misinterpreted who was doing the work. His first words were, "The woman that did this stuff needs to be horsewhipped!" I decided to play along and said there was some weird stuff in there and asked which ones were the worst. He pointed them out and I agreed the photos were damned strange. I hypothesized what the artist was trying to say, and got the old guy talking for a long time, and we bashed some work and salvaged others ;-) After a while the old guy thanked me for the time, shook my hand, and declared I was a right nice young feller. I never did tell him I was the artist, and after a safe interval my neighbors came over for a good laugh.
I have been to several shows where any nudes, even those stylized into trees, birds or fish etc. were frowned upon. When ARTNADO 2015 was asked about their policy they commented that "we would hope our patrons have visited museums, the Vatican or Europe, if not then they are not truly the kind of person who appreciates art and we cannot allow their limited tastes to direct our art fair.
It depends on the show and what part of the country they are located in. If they were in your booth picture and you were juried in, either they are acceptable or they didn't look closely at your booth image. One thing I would do is have enough other work so if challenged, you can take the nudes down and replace them. And then there's the saying, "it's better to ask for forgiveness then permission".
You might want to contact Chris Maher. The photography in his booth consists of more than half nudes. He would be a good resource for which shows to not apply to.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
3x6 Post Its for the male nudes? ;>)
I know. I will take some Post It's just in case;)
I like R.C.'s idea, as recounted in the link he provided. It's a great read!!!
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