The Nudist Museum, 2010. By Ellen Harvey, b.1967, Kent, UK.
ELLEN HARVEY
b. 1967, Kent, UK
The Nudist Museum, 2010
Oil on gesso-board panels, vintage frames, paper printouts, and stanchions with velvet rope 144 × 204 in.
Collection of The Bass
2023.2.1
Ellen Harvey's The Nudist Museum explores historical and contemporary representations of the nude, questioning the underlying ideas that shape our perceptions of the body. In this work, Harvey paints imperfect reproductions of paintings, sculptures, and drawings from The Bass' permanent collection-spanning the Middle Ages to the present-using only archival documentation as her reference. This method creates layers of distance from the originals, illustrating how our perceptions are shaped by visual contexts and historical frameworks, both seen and unseen. The artist recontextualizes works from The Bass' collection within her broader critique of museum practices.
Harvey assigns arbitrary flesh tones to the pictured bodies while rendering all other elements in monochromatic grays, a technique that isolates the figures and emphasizes how identity may be artificially highlighted or constructed.
Some paintings present cropped views of figures, scrutinizing society's often narrow perspectives on nudity.
Reinforcing this critique, the paintings are installed above images collected from fashion, fitness, and pornographic magazines to starkly contrast historical and contemporary representations of the nude. The installation replicates traditional display methods, using stanchions and ornate frames to theatrically reveal how museums construct and impose narratives on art. Harvey's approach challenges the way we engage with all art-including the nude-to prompt a deeper reflection on how context and framing influences our viewing.
The Nudist Museum, 2010. By Ellen Harvey, b.1967, Kent, UK.
ELLEN HARVEY
b. 1967, Kent, UK
The Nudist Museum, 2010
Oil on gesso-board panels, vintage frames, paper printouts, and stanchions with velvet rope 144 × 204 in.
Collection of The Bass
2023.2.1
Ellen Harvey's The Nudist Museum explores historical and contemporary representations of the nude, questioning the underlying ideas that shape our perceptions of the body. In this work, Harvey paints imperfect reproductions of paintings, sculptures, and drawings from The Bass' permanent collection-spanning the Middle Ages to the present-using only archival documentation as her reference. This method creates layers of distance from the originals, illustrating how our perceptions are shaped by visual contexts and historical frameworks, both seen and unseen. The artist recontextualizes works from The Bass' collection within her broader critique of museum practices.
Harvey assigns arbitrary flesh tones to the pictured bodies while rendering all other elements in monochromatic grays, a technique that isolates the figures and emphasizes how identity may be artificially highlighted or constructed.
Some paintings present cropped views of figures, scrutinizing society's often narrow perspectives on nudity.
Reinforcing this critique, the paintings are installed above images collected from fashion, fitness, and pornographic magazines to starkly contrast historical and contemporary representations of the nude. The installation replicates traditional display methods, using stanchions and ornate frames to theatrically reveal how museums construct and impose narratives on art. Harvey's approach challenges the way we engage with all art-including the nude-to prompt a deeper reflection on how context and framing influences our viewing.