Exhibition
The Contemporary Nude
12 Aug 2019 – 18 Aug 2019
Mall Galleries
London, United Kingdom
Talk
Are Life Models Artists? Talk by Dominic Blake
15 Aug 2019
Regular hours
- Thursday
- 10:00 – 17:00
Cost of entry
Free, but book your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/are-life-models-artists-talk-by-dominic-blake-tickets-60254785686
Address
- The Mall
- London
- SW1Y 5BD
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- Bus: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 23, 24, 29, 53, 87, 88, 91, 139, 159, 176, 179, 453
- Tube: Charing Cross (2 minutes walk), Piccadilly Circus (5 minutes walk), Embankment (5 minutes walk)
- Rail: Charing Cross
Event map
Dominic Blake is a professional Life Model, working with many major museums, galleries and art schools in London, and regularly with the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society.
About
"I believe that the role of the Life Model is often misunderstood. The question posed in the title of my talk is rhetorical. My intention would be to assert that Life Models are Artists, discussing the symbiotic role they play within the artistic relationships they work within. I view my work as a physical mode of artistic expression, I am travelling on deep physical and emotional journeys of self-reflection with the artists who assemble to draw me.
Every day, I challenge myself to create poses that might be the catalyst for new and interesting artistic ideas. Witnessing the results unfolding all around me in the form of paintings, drawings and sculptures is infinitely exciting."
During this talk, Dominic will cover the historical importance of the practice of drawing from life, moving from antiquity to the Renaissance through to the present day and the symbiotic role Life Models play within the artistic relationships they share with those people who draw them.
He will discuss the experience of Life Modelling, via reference to his own work and other Life Models within art history, covering:
- His own motivation for becoming a Life Model (which was borne out of a desire to be creative)
- His journey as a Life Model, from initial work as a model for a friend, to the decision to abandon a career in the museum sector in order to pursue an artistic career as a Life Model, "which has led me to collaborate with several of my favourite artists and with some of the world's most important museums and galleries"
- His inspiration for poses, which is informed by painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, nature and his own emotional state of being
- The notion that Life Modelling is a uniquely human experience
- The symbiotic nature of the relationship between the artist and model
- The experience of Life Modelling at the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society
Free, but book your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/are-life-models-artists-talk-by-dominic-blake-tickets-60254785686
