Demonstration of Mastery: John O'Hern curates the third installment of Re-presenting the Nude at Evoke Contemporary in Santa Fe

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"The Intruder" by Adam Miller, oil on canvas, 36" x 36"

There is nothing in all the world more beautiful or significant of the laws of the universe than the nude human body. Robert Henri

Santa Fe, New Mexico (PRWEB) June 19, 2014

The exhibition is curated by John O’Hern who originated the ground-breaking Re-Presenting Representation exhibitions at the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York in the 1990s. O’Hern, who is Santa Fe Editor of American Art Collector magazine, worked in museums for nearly 40 years and has been an advocate for contemporary representational art for the past 20 years.

“The nude has been a subject in art for millennia,” O’Hern said. “From Greek images of god-like perfection to Lucien Freud’s paintings of proud imperfection, the nude elicits an immediate response from the viewer. Beneath the uniform of our status in life is the physical body with which we experience the everyday and through which we get a sense of worlds beyond.”

Among the artists are the Canadian painter Daniel Barkley, the German sculptor Peter Simon Muehlhauesser, the Americana and Russian collaborators Scherer & Ouporov, Portuguese painter, Carlos Baharona Possollo, Santa Fe glass maker Cia Thorne, and the American painter Marc Dennis.

"There is nothing in all the world more beautiful or significant of the laws of the universe than the nude human body."- Robert Henri

As we crawl, stand, run, stoop, and begin to crawl again we learn a lot about the wonderful organism that our body is. Whether we believe it was formed by an omnipotent being breathing into a lump of clay, or by forces that caused a coalescence of star dust, there is no escaping its wonderful intricacy. For some of us, parts fail. But there is always something significant of the laws of the universe acting in us.

For some, the body is revered as a temple. For others it’s a tool. For all of us, it’s our means of becoming aware of our world and imagining things beyond.

As a subject in art, the body has been used to tell stories or admired as an object of beauty. Michelangelo’s David is a masterful carving of a nude young man whose story we know from the Hebrew Bible. The sculptor used scientific observation to carve it with proportions that would seem correct when viewed from below—as its placement was originally intended.

The artists in Re-presenting the Nude III rely both on precedent and innovation to depict the body. In media from glass to graphite, they have created images to please us, to challenge us and, perhaps, to titillate us.

Although Kathrine Erickson and Elan Varshay at EVOKE give me free rein to put these exhibitions together, it is their commitment to the highest level of content and execution in the work they display in their gallery that make it possible. This international display is only the tip of the iceberg of the work being produced today that celebrates the human form.

About John O’Hern:

John is known for more than 30 years in the museum business, specifically as the Executive Director and Curator of the Arnot Museum, Elmira, NY, and he is the originator of the internationally acclaimed Re-Presenting Representation exhibitions, which promote realism in its many guises. John was chair of the Artists Panel of the New York State Council of the Arts. He writes for gallery publications around the world, including regular monthly features on Art Market Insights in American Art Collector magazine and on Sculpture in Western Art Collector magazine.

About EVOKE Contemporary:

EVOKE Contemporary showcases provocative and compelling representational contemporary art of international acclaim. The gallery is known for its strong focus on figuration with wide diversity ranging from hyperrealism to abstract expressionism. All events open on the Last Friday of each month along with the celebrated Last Friday Art Walks in the Railyard Arts District.

EVOKE Contemporary is located at 550 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. Telephone 505.995.9902. For more information, visit the EVOKE Contemporary website at http://www.evokecontemporary.com.

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