This diverse showing of photography, mixed media, film, and painting aims to explore the the body as sexual, surreal, grotesque, and as object. Showcased are four contemporary artists (contemporary used as a category describing artists who made work post 1950) whose art cumulatively aims to explore the body in all it's complexity across a wide spectrum. Two of which are Andre Speckert and Jon Jacobsen: representative of the youngest ( and consequently lesser known) artists. In his photographs, Speckert employs female and male bodies to not only poke fun at and question sex, but as tools for storytelling. Jacobsen also utilizes a photographic medium, but explores instead the inner workings of the body (emotional, spiritual, and visceral) through his surreal photo manipulations. A more seasoned, but still prolific artist, Odd Nerdrum, is on display to present the body as monstrous and grotesque; depicting the unusual bodied while maintaining a classical approach to oil painting. Finally, to round out our collective group, Andy Warhol is featured- whose Pop Art silkscreens and manufactured soup-can series are typical targets for lecturers and art historians to highlight. Seldomly, if ever, are his lesser-known illustrative or underground cinema works discussed. So, Warhol's work in film (stills) are being shown here in the context of queer theory and the body as an object of the gaze (which encompass ideas both of homoeroticism and gender identity).
Andre Speckert is an artist based out of San Francisco, California. “He is a writer, photographer, poet, lover, freelance journalist, political dissident, chemical abuse enthusiast, Norwegian dick-fencing champion, professional model, and certifiable genius. He is best known for his seminal work You Are All idiots and I Sincerely Hope You Die. He has a passion for omelets and the preservation of Renaissance dildos. He travels the world scribbling and clicking away. He is an insufferable bastard and you will not like him. He is here for your amusement and curiosity”.
Jon Jacobsen is an artist based out of Chile. He is a self-taught photographer from with a degree in graphic design and multimedia communication. He started creating conceptual self-portraits at age fifteen in his hometown, Quintero. His work contains graphic, narrative images utilizing symbolism and the surreal through different digital techniques, such as photomanipulations, illustrations and cinemagraphs (animated GIF images). Jacobsen’s work has been featured prominently in Chile both in exhibits and publications.
Odd Nerdrum is an artist based out of Norway. He studied at the Art Academy of Oslo (during the advent of modern art) and taught himself how to paint in the New Baroque style of Rembrandt and Caravaggio. He earnestly defines himself as a kitsch-painter, having published several books and articles on the subject, thus has presented ‘the most radical critique of the culture of today when it comes to the field of art.’ He has frequently exhibited in the United States with works like “Sleeping Twins, "Man Bitten by a Snake" and, “Old Man with Dead Maiden” His works have attracted public attention being featured in newspapers and art-magazines.
Andy Warhol was an artist primarily based out of New York City. He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) from 1945 to 1949, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Pictorial Design with the goal of becoming a commercial illustrator. Warhol was a Pioneer of the Pop Art movement with his Campbell Soup Can series and silkscreen celebrity portraiture. By the mid-1960s he was a frequent presence in magazines and the media. The images presented here are screen stills taken from his narrative and conceptual ‘sexploitation’ film experiments conducted between 1963 and 1968. He was a prolific artist up until his death on 1987 whereby his “Last Supper” and “Sewn Photos” series were being exhibited.
Jon Jacobsen is an artist based out of Chile. He is a self-taught photographer from with a degree in graphic design and multimedia communication. He started creating conceptual self-portraits at age fifteen in his hometown, Quintero. His work contains graphic, narrative images utilizing symbolism and the surreal through different digital techniques, such as photomanipulations, illustrations and cinemagraphs (animated GIF images). Jacobsen’s work has been featured prominently in Chile both in exhibits and publications.
Odd Nerdrum is an artist based out of Norway. He studied at the Art Academy of Oslo (during the advent of modern art) and taught himself how to paint in the New Baroque style of Rembrandt and Caravaggio. He earnestly defines himself as a kitsch-painter, having published several books and articles on the subject, thus has presented ‘the most radical critique of the culture of today when it comes to the field of art.’ He has frequently exhibited in the United States with works like “Sleeping Twins, "Man Bitten by a Snake" and, “Old Man with Dead Maiden” His works have attracted public attention being featured in newspapers and art-magazines.
Andy Warhol was an artist primarily based out of New York City. He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) from 1945 to 1949, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Pictorial Design with the goal of becoming a commercial illustrator. Warhol was a Pioneer of the Pop Art movement with his Campbell Soup Can series and silkscreen celebrity portraiture. By the mid-1960s he was a frequent presence in magazines and the media. The images presented here are screen stills taken from his narrative and conceptual ‘sexploitation’ film experiments conducted between 1963 and 1968. He was a prolific artist up until his death on 1987 whereby his “Last Supper” and “Sewn Photos” series were being exhibited.