Judith and Body Art

I think is the flowers that attract me.  Big, bold red flowers amid lush, curling greenery.

Then the unfolded fan.  I’ve always had a thing for hand-held fans and their secret, unspoken code of messages.

And in the dark regions, the words “Ecce Homo” – Behold the Man – certainly stirs my curiosity.

Justinas Krasuckas, “Holofernes Beheading Judith,” 2013, oil on canvas, 80×100 cm, justinaskrasuckas.blogspot.com

 

Plus it brings back good times with Lafayette Reynolds and Jesus Velasquez.

Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds in HBO’s True Blood

Kevin Alejandro as Jesus Velasquez in HBO’s True Blood

 

 

But back to being serious …

This is a gender-bending self-portrait by Justinas Krasuckas, freelance concept artist, designer and painter from Vilnius, Lithuania. – executed for the Young Painter Prize contest in his country.  Gender-bending because it places Krasuckas in the role of Judith – something I rarely see, com to think of it.  His vision was “to recontextualize historical moments in my painting” through a classical realistic approach to represent his idea more clearly.

One of the main idea of this painting is to show human experience in contemporary society. Then I painted this work I always asked myself: what is humanity? Where are the boundaries of humanity? What is society standpoint and opinion towards marginal people? I am not social critic, so I give freedom everybody to interpret this painting as they want. In this painting I was particularly interested in symbols of pop culture – tattoos, piercing, hairstyles etc. To add more power to painting, I have chosen more tragic atmosphere. I do not want to restrict viewer by my narrated form of painting, so I give freedom to interpret humanity as a whole theme.

Those are bold, expansive questions – to which I have no answer.  But they are thought-inspiring, which should be the goal of any art -yes?  Even body art, I suppose.  And especially dark art.

I am simply pleased that Judith retains her significance and her symbolism in contemporary society – and is still relevant in communication of social issues.  Her longevity is quite amazing.

 

Judith in a den of iniquity

I have never experienced an opium den, but I bet it feels like viewing the opulent, decadent, intoxicating illustrations of Vania Zouravliov. Without the withdrawal and risk of arrest.

“Russian-born Vania Zouravliov was inspired from an early age by influences as diverse as The Bible, Dante’s Divine Comedy, early Disney animation and North American Indians. Something of a child prodigy in his homeland, he was championed by many influential classical musicians including Ashkenazi, Spivakov and Menuhin. He even had television programs made about him and was introduced to famous communist artists, godfathers of social realism, who told him that his work was from the Devil.”

“By the age of 13, Vania Zouravliov was exhibiting internationally, visited Canterbury several times as well as Paris, Colmar and Berlin. He subsequently studied in the UK, and during this time began creating illustrations for The Scotsman and comics for Fantagraphics and Dark Horse in the US. His most recent projects have been for Beck’s The Information and National Geographic.” (1)

 

Many thoughts come pouring from these lavish lithographs, evoking connections to ancient myths, exotic locales, and inspiring artists of earlier times.  I feel a little like Joseph Campbell bringing in multiple elements from –

• Japanese Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world” — especially shunga or “picture of spring,” in which “spring” is a euphemism for sex — as portrayed by Utamaro in his depictions of courtesans

• Orientalism, the mixture of languor, sex, violence, bondage and exoticism that is seen in the odalisque paintings of Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Léon Gérôme and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

• Traditional Persian attire, with intricate textured fabrics and layers of jewels – topped by an elaborate turban.

• Illustrative fairie tales of Arthur Rackham and Kay Rasmus Nielsen that layer delicate fantasies behind the routines of everyday life

• Costuming for ballet, as typified by Leon Baskt’s creations of beauty in motion

• Art Nouveaux, Aubrey Beardsley comes immediately to mind with his black and white illustrations against a white background and his themes of perversion and erotica.  Alphonse Mucha’s blushing and haloed young women in flowing, Neoclassical robes, surrounded by a profusion of flowers.

• Gothic tales, such as Harry Clarke’s illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination

• Pin-up art, in which Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas celebrate the female form in positions to exaggerate and accentuate feminine sexual characteristics.

• Erotica, which hovers along the mutable border of respectful admiration of the beauty of sex and the pornographic perversion of submission and suffering.  You will have to be the judge, like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who said “I know it when I see it.”

It’s all a little overwhelming – but a source of endless flights of imagination.

(1) Big Active, Illustration: Vania Zouravliov.

 

Judith and the Lost Boy

Way back on May 7, 2012, I featured this work by Greg Ruth –

Greg Ruth, “Judith,” 2010, brush and sumi ink, 9 x 12 in, http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=635111&gsub=70536

Today I am proud to share Greg’s success with you, as he announces his latest graphic novel, THE LOST BOY, is finally published by Scholastic and on the shelves. They will be launching the book officially at Odyssey Books in South Hadley, MA this September 27th at 6pm. Additionally, new expansive material, art and extra stories and comics for THE LOST BOY will be posted each and every monday on his brand new, totally revamped website, GREGTHINGS.COM.

Heads off to Greg and I wish him much success!

SaveSave

 

Judith in Treasure Island

Greg Ruth, “Judith,” 2010, brush and sumi ink, 9 x 12 in, http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=635111&gsub=70536

I have always loved Caravaggio of course, and especially his portrait of Judith and Holofernes, but to choose sides in a long raging battle steeped in women’s rights and the aggravating concept of how many really amazing paintings we denied ourselves due to our bizarre cultural prejudices, it is Artemesia Gentileschi’s that takes the prize by a long shot.

Hers depicts the grotesque power of this legendary biblical cautionary tale, both in Judith, and her victim but more so in the poignant depiction of her servant ready and eager to dispatch this particular duty. There’s a conspiratorial intimacy happening between these two women that has always been a forceful example of the narrative quality of single image art. Gentileschi’s a tremendous painter and great influence on what I do today, so to kick off this year’s Women’s History Month, let us pay no small homage to her, her talents and her bravado for standing up and expressing herself in a time where such an act would be unheard of. (1)

I always like to read explanations straight from the artist – and I appreciate the dedication to Women’s History Month.   But I am still a little confused by the imagery in this homage to Judith and her maid.   In particular, I would like to know:

• Why is Judith dressed in a bonnet and cape that places her in Victorian times?
• Why does Holofernes resemble Gandolf the Wizard?
• Why do I feel like the maid is a sinister pirate rather than a devoted servant?

All of which puts me in the middle of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island instead of Bethulia.

But I do love her smirk.

(1)  Max Rugers, Greg Ruth gallery on Comic Art Fans, http://www.ComicArtFans.com