"My boobs are more beautiful!"
"No, my boobs are way better!"
What a great argument. I wish all girls could debate like that instead of staring at MTV and wishing they could trade bodies with some over worked and over primped shell of a celebrity. "V-Day is an organization aimed to fight violence against women," Britta Bene '05 explained. "Violence not only in a physical sense but body image and what the media can do."
The V-Day art show has made Bowdoin come one step closer to understanding and appreciating our bodies. Bene organized the second annual V-Day art show which features anonymous naked photographs of Bowdoin students taken by Bene, Brandon Kaplan '05 and Amanda Escobar-Gramigna '07, as well as plaster body casts.
Bene asked everyone on campus, both male and female to volunteer themselves to be in the photographs. She had so many people respond that there was a waiting list for models. She based her model choices solely on a first come first serve basis to make it entirely fair. Being one of the models is half of the learning process for the show. Bene admits that, "Not everyone is that comfortable coming into the shoot and not everyone thinks their body is beautiful and for a lot of them it's a challenge to come in and they want to show the flaws in their body and want to become more comfortable with themselves in the process. Most of the people I've talked to have come out of the shoot really empowered and happy and proud of themselves."
Not only is it empowering for the models themselves, but the show is meant to open the eyes of every individual on campus. "So many of us are obsessed with our body as a form and shape," Bene remarks," that we don't step back to look at our body as a whole and see the actual curves and perfections and not the little blips that result from pants that are too tight."
There is also a comment book so that you can voice your response, positive or negative, to the exhibition. Nudity and body images are sensitive subjects. While there are some negative reactions with how Bene chose to represent the bodies this year, reading though the book, however, I found that the majority of the notes thanked Bene, the photographers, and the models. A thank you that says this is a successful show that certainly reaches the goal of making people feel confident about their bodies.
The exhibit is open for viewing in Smith Union's Lamarche Lounge until April 30.
Portland Biennial
I just love skinny jeans, and there was an abundance of them at the opening of the Portland Biennial Wednesday night. This can mean only one thing?hip kids. This year, the Biennial has opened its arms to many young and emerging artists, four of whom are recent Bowdoin alumni: Courtney Brecht '00, Kyle Durrie '02, Cassie Jones '01, and Nicole Stiffle '04. The Biennial features artists' new and established whose work represents the Maine contemporary art scene.
The show is chock full of a variety of different media, from Bosch-inspired drawings of stylized naked girls with large guns on drywall, to plush sculptures that fall somewhere in between muppets and upholstery. There is also a room dedicated to multiple translucent screens on which naked men are running (and falling off) logs in a quarry created by Tad Beck. Lenora Ditzler '05 was happy to admit that those boys on the logs were all of her friends from Vinalhaven. No wonder she has such fun summers.
In the midst of this exploration of new media, Courtney Brecht makes her contemporary statement with a traditional media, oil paint on canvas. Her two self-portraits, "Me Apetce Ese Labio" and "Candy Striped Legs" are bold, sexual, and skillfully executed. "Me Apetce Ese Labio" shows the young woman garishly applying red lipstick to her open mouth. Her hand, shown only by on oil stick outline, makes a confident statement of applying lipstick which we equate as an entry into womanhood. Her leap into adulthood however is not without hindrance, as she seems awkward and overly eager, getting lipstick on her front tooth in the process. Brecht's firm brush strokes and thick paint application contrast the fledgling woman represented on the canvas. This dichotomy creates an intoxicating tension.
This exhibit is open for viewing from April 7 to June 5 at the Portland Museum of Art, Seven Congress Square, Portland, ME.