How do you view nudity? With the exhibition NAKED – The Vulnerable Body, Museum Kranenburgh presents the shifting meaning of nudity in visual culture over the past decades: from shock to habit, from taboo to openness—and sometimes back again.
Naked
The Vulnerable Body
We bare our souls on Facebook and Instagram, but bare nipples are strictly taboo. Perfectly photoshopped bodies on television, in magazines, and online make us insecure about our own bodies, even uncomfortable. Image maker Thomas Widdershoven (thonik) guest-curates the exhibition NAKED, in which he examines our body image and our view of nudity.
To be naked is to be oneself
No one has expressed it more aptly than the renowned British writer and artist John Berger: “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others” (Ways of Seeing, 1972). To be naked is to be yourself; to be naked is to be seen naked by others. Widdershoven uses Berger’s quote as the motto for the exhibition and takes on the challenge: “I want to explore the gray area where it becomes virtually impossible to categorize examples as good or bad; sexual or non-sexual; shocking or not.”
The exhibition occupies the entire new wing and features works by more than fifty contemporary artists and designers. Not all artworks literally depict nudity, but they all engage with the contemporary confusion surrounding the naked truth. With complete openness and honesty, the human condition, our human discomfort and vulnerability, is laid bare. Kranenburgh is developing an extensive supporting program for the exhibition, particularly for pupils and students.
Listen to the podcast
Want to hear more about the exhibition? Caspar Stalenhoef created a podcast for BLOOT - the vulnerable body.
Bloot (1/4). Bloot
Met de tentoonstelling ‘Bloot. Het kwetsbare lichaam’ geeft…
Bloot (2/4). Ontkleed
Thomas Widdershoven voelde wel een spanning, ‘dat een…
Bloot (3/4). Ontmaskerd
In deze aflevering vertelt Marie Stel over Instagrammer…
Bloot (4/4). Ontketend
Marie Stel vertelt over het ‘terugkijkende’ liggende naakt…
Artists
Atelier Van Lieshout | Anthon Beeke | Herbert Behrens | Caspar Berger | Eva Besnyö (HU/NL) | Alexandra Bircken (DE) | Melanie Bonajo | Yi-Fei Chen (TW) | Lois Cohen en Indiana Roma Voss | Matthew Day Jackson (USA) | Michèle Degen (CH) | Rineke Dijkstra | Hans Eijkelboom | Mandy den Elzen | Kim van Erven | Alicia Framis (ES) | Lucy Glendinning (GB) | Daan van Golden | Olivier van Herpt | Bora Hong (KR) | Fleur Hulleman | Ata Kandó (HU) | Billie van Katwijk | Laetitia Ky (CI) | Duran Lantink | George Maciunas (LT) | Thomas Mailaender (FR) | MAISON the FAUX | Reineke Otten | Nam June Paik (KR) | Antje Peters (DE) | Bas Princen | Deborah de Robertis (LU) | Maria Roosen | Fernando Sánchez Castillo (ES) | Sanne Sannes | Viviane Sassen | Wim T. Schippers | Jan Schoonhoven | Yinka Shonibare (GB) | Giulia Soldati (IT) | Elisabet Stienstra | Berend Strik | Julius Thissen | thonik | Oliviero Toscani (IT) | Ulay (DE) | Ari Versluis en Ellie Uyttenbroek | Roy Villevoye | Hongjie Yang (CN) | John Berger (GB) | Wim Crouwel | Max Kisman | Hans Wolf | Butt Magazine | Easy period (CA) | Extra Extra Magazine | Fantastic Man Magazine | Glamcult | Permanent Food magazine: Maurizio Cattelan & Paola Manfrin (IT) | Suck. First European Sexpaper | The Virgin Sperm Dancer | Yoni
Curator
Thomas Widdershoven
Thomas Widdershoven (born 1960) and Nikki Gonnissen have headed the Amsterdam-based design agency thonik for 25 years. Thonik has created numerous advertising campaigns, identities, and corporate identities for clients including Museum Kranenburgh, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the VPRO, and the Holland Festival. Widdershoven was creative director of the Design Academy Eindhoven and curated several exhibitions at the Van Abbemuseum. He created BLOOT (NAKED) with assistant curator Marie Stel and designer Tariq Heijboer.
Artworks
Lois Cohen en Roma Voss
Odalisque uit de serie Metamorphosis
Atelier Van Lieshout
Penis XL
2003
