The artist, the censor, and the nude : a tale of morality and appropriation

The artist, the censor, and the nude A tale of morality and appropriation

Glenn Harcourt

Book - 2017

This hybrid book examines the art and politics of 'The Nude' in various cultural contexts, featuring books of canonical western art pirated and either digitally- or hand-censored in Iran by anonymous government workers. Author Glenn Harcourt uses several case studies brought to the fore by American painter Pamela Joseph in her recent "Censored" series. Harcourt's rigorous, culturally-measured and art historical approach complements Joseph's appropriation of these censored images as feminist critique. Harcourt argues that her work serves as a window toward larger questions in art. These include an examination of the evolution of abstraction; the role of women in western society, as seen through the history of pa...inting the body; the effects of western art on cultures outside the west (sometimes referred to in Iran as 'west-toxication'); and how artists in non-western countries, specifically those in Iran living under rules of censorship that specifically prohibit representation of the body, engage with the history of western art found in the censored books.

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Subjects
Joseph, Pamela, > 1942-
Art > Censorship.
Nude in art > Censorship.
Freedom and art.
Censorship > Iran.
Orientalism.
Art, Iranian > 21st century.
Art, Modern > 21st century.
Women artists.
Women in art.
Art and society.
Published
Los Angeles : DoppelHouse Press [2017]
Language
English
Main Author
Glenn Harcourt (author)
Other Authors
Pamela Joseph, 1942- (artist)
Physical Description
xi, 179 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9780997003420
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

After encountering censored images of canonical Western art in books published in Iran, the American painter Pamela Joseph was inspired reproduce the redacted images as paintings. The works in her Censored series provide the jumping off point for art critic Harcourt to explore appropriation and the construction of culture in 21st century. Harcourt's first essay examines the futility of Iranian censors' attempts at "erasing" nudity in art books, because it's not easy to mask what is underneath, particularly in an age of open dissemination and appropriation of images through broadcast media and the internet. Joseph's artwork demonstrates this futility, particularly in the painting Censored Olympia by Manet, in which the nude subject of Manet's painting is rigorously scribbled out, giving the model an even more aggressive presence and adding layers of context. The second half of the book provides an overview of contemporary art in Iran and examines the ways Iranian artists work around or push against government and cultural restrictions in creating their work. The book concludes with other examples of censored art for readers' own interpretations. Thoughtful and rigorous, the book provides an excellent survey of contemporary censorship. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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