‘It’s male beauty in all its glory’ said Musée d’Orsay curator of the exhibit that explores pain, temptation, desire and idealization through two centuries’ worth of naked men
The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has launched an exhibition title Masculin/Masculin focusing on the male nude.
The naked male is ‘no longer possible to ignore,’ said president of Paris’ Musée d’Orsay Guy Cogeval, referring to the Masculin/Masculin exhibit opening this week.
The exhibit running from 24 September 2013 until 2 January 2014 will include over 200 pieces that range from classical pieces like paintings and sculptures to contemporary works by gay artists including Pierre et Gilles, David Lachapelle and George Platt Lynes.
Masculin/Masculin: The Nude Made in Art from 1800 to the Present Day is ‘an interpretive, playful, sociological and philosophical approach’ to male nudity in art.
While the female nude has received a greater amount of attention both from artists and the public, Masculin/Masculin is meant to ‘amuse’ and ‘surprise’ the public.
‘The male nude still troubles people,’ said curator Xavier Rey, even though ‘we think we live in a very liberated society’.
Cogeval suggested the legalization of same-sex marriage helped open the way for the exhibit.
‘I’ve been wanting to do if for the past 10 or 15 years but … society hadn’t evolved to the point it has today.’
Cogeval assured the show is ‘not political,’ though ‘one of our themes is the homoerotic, which is a thread throughout the exhibition.’
by Jean Paul Zapata
Source – Gay Star News
