‘Through the Heart of it All’ by Brian Reedhttp://bit.ly/dukuiA

Take a deeply controversial subject in America — nudity and public decency — and incorporate it into a complex art exhibit that strains engaged minds to understand the message, and then present it in an incoherent to read ChairandtheMaiden.com website. With any luck, your message will be lost and distorted, which is a shame when at rock bottom, you just may have something important to say. (I was there. See followup note.)

After shooting the gallery webmaster, let me send you to Brian Reed’s online website, where you can read a much more coherent story about his show ‘Through the Heart of It all’ in New York’s West Village. I’ll be stopping by tomorrow. More to come. I feel a kindred spirit here. Anne

Evoking a place of pilgrimage, Brian Reed creates a temple; the gallery ceiling is lined with sculpture and hung with glittering, clattering minkisi staffs. Nudes draped in textiles, one work woven of shark’s eggs forming a net, circulate throughout. All elements synergistically combine to create a vibrant atmosphere charged with spiritual energy. Through the Heart of It All is Brian Reed’s first installation combining all aspects of his questing art practice, which thoughtfully utilizes power images primarily found in the Americas. Reed draws on his experiences with African cultural traditions, those found in Amerindian cultures, and even explores cultural ideas present from India and Islam in the Americas to achieve something that seems familiar in feeling, yet new in form and experience. Crossing boundaries beyond religious ritual and contemporary performance art, Reed creates a richly colored and textured multi-media environment.

More reading:

Hey, Look! She’s naked! But It’s Art, So It’s All Right.

Update on 2010-02-28 19:56 by Anne

Hi from Anne. I saw the small show, which is a jewel. My only wish was for more space for more inspiration. Loved my talk with gallery owner David and am returning Thurs. for an interview.

OK, I forgive him about the website being impossible to read. We chatted a lot about the police disruption, but what caught my ear was the complaints from feminists that the show exploits women.

Although naked men are featured in the Brian Reed photos, I agree with David Zelikovsky that no way could a naked man be in the window, even in New York. Returning from a brief break, the nude woman in the window — Megan Hanford — was very real and visibly annoyed at the suggestion that she’s being exploited via the art.

I want to record her thoughts on this subject, and yesterday was too busy in the gallery. Megan Hanford has a brain and the suggestion that she can’t think for herself is damn insulting, especially when the charge comes from other women.

Just remember that many feminists agree with former attorney general John Ashcroft who ordered statues covered in Washington in 2002. Ironically, the bare-breasted woman was the Spirit of Justice. via USA Today.

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