About
Curated by Dan Coombs & Phillip Allen
In recent decades the idea of the nude has been in decline in art-school: life drawing is no longer practiced widely, ideas and research are currently preeminent. The tradition of teaching painting in British art schools has grown out of non-referential painting, abstraction and formalism; and the objective, realist tradition of painting the figure died with Euan Uglow. Would it not be apposite then, to take a look at this neglected genre? The nude seems ripe for a reawakening; it is an implicitly psychological genre, tapping directly into the artistic psyche.
This show is an aesthetic experiment presenting a comprehensive range of responses to the subject. In part, Coombs and Allen's interest lies in the idea of imposing a subject onto the participating artists, or taking away the normal responsibility the artist necessarily has for their subject. Or, giving to particular artists a subject they perhaps not normally deal with, as many of the participating artists are abstract painters.
Phillip Allen and Dan Coombs have asked over 100 artists to make paintings of the nude. Many of the paintings will be unseen before the hang, and the artists hope the show will create a rich network of images that will establish a context for representation of the body in contemporary painting.
THE PERFECT NUDE invited artists include: Jeremy Akerman, Phillip Allen, Tim Allen, Linda Aloysius, Uliana Apatina, Kay Bainbridge, Aglae Bassens, Marianne Basualdo, Kiera Bennett, Simon Bill, Rachel Blackwell, Elaine Brown, Stephen Chambers, Jake Clark, Richard Clegg, Daniel Coombs, Ian Dawson, Jeff Dellow, Jeff Dennis, Nelson Diplexcito, John Dougall, Sarah Douglas, Geraint Evans, Mark Fairnington, Stephen Farthing, Georgie Flood, Rebecca Foster, Matt Galpin, Alex Gene Morrison, Ana Genoves, William Gharraie, Adam Gillam, Sara Gillies, Andrew Graves, Jonny Green, Marilyn Hallam, Alexis Harding, Andy Harper, Dereck Harris, Vincent Hawkins, Aly Helyer, Celia Hempton, Sam Herbert, Tom House, Paul Housley, Vanessa Jackson, Will Jarvis, Chantal Joffe, Pete Jones, Hannah Knox, Chris Koning, Peter Lamb, Darius Lambert, Mindy Lee, Dave Leeson, Steve Lewis, Cathy Lomax, Paula Macarthur, Alastair Mackinven, Lee Maelzer, Bob Matthews, John McLeod, Damien Meade, Gina Medcalf, Hugh Mendes, Mali Morris, Jost Muenster, Darren Murray, Ishbel Myerscough, Iain Nicholls, Joe Packer, Rebecca Partridge, Katie Pratt, David Rayson, Barry Reigate, Howard Rogers, Danny Rolph, Greg Rook, Robert Rush, Alli Sharma, Dominic Shepherd, Benet Spencer, Ruth Stage, Andrew Stahl, Tim Stoner, John Strutton, Emma Talbot, Diana Taylor, Joe Tomlin, Katherine Tulloh, Covadonga Valdes, Alex Veness, Roxy Walsh, John Walter, David Webb, Rob Welch, Freya White, Laura White, Sam Windett, Mark Wright, Vicky Wright.
