KATHMANDU
Around 50 works of a total of 23 artists are on display at an exhibition titled ‘The Nude exhibition 2021’ which began on September 3 at M Cube Gallery, Chakupat, Lalitpur. As the title of the exhibition suggests, it features paintings, photographs, installations and sculptures that accentuate the beauty of the natural body without artificial clothing — nude.

The exhibition is divided into two sections — the ground floor features photographs, sculptures and installations while the first floor features paintings.

Artists Ankit Khadgi, Bijaya Maharajan, Srijan Baral and Sweet White Cookie have showcased their photographs that are visually appealing and celebrate the body along with the emotions that it poses.

In Ankit’s ‘I am sexy and I Know it’, he explores the idea of body positivity. A set of six photographs in black and white color depict his body where he compares it, when he is overweight and fit. No matter how he looks, he simply finds his body beautiful and sexy, which is what his photographs convey.

However, Bijaya, Srijan and Sweet White Cookie have featured women’s nude bodies that are visually appealing rather than vulgar. In Bijaya’s ‘Curved and Twisted’, he has captured the feminine form from the back and the illusion he used focuses the curves and other shapes in a female body. For him, a woman's body is the reflection of the true aesthetics and beauty of nature.
Then, Srijan and Sweet White Cookie have used red hue in their photographs and its use has created a wow factor in their composition.

The sculptures by Sajal Siwakoti, Saksham Raja Shakya and Prakash Pun Magar along with the installation works by Sagar Manandhar and others deliberately enhance the exhibition.
Talking about his sculpture ‘Bashful’, Saksham shares, “Bashful is the situation we all might have experienced at least once in our lives. The work Bashful, a nude sculpture covering its body parts with embarrassment but still carrying a smile on its face describing the situation and it’s being handled.”

The exhibition is curated by curator duo Kapil Mani Dixit and Manish Lal Shrestha. About the exhibition, Kapil shares, “This nudity is acceptance of one’s body and existence where the exhibition celebrates the natural aspect of being.”

Meanwhile, Manish finds Nepali artists are still not able to open up freely while doing nude painting, and have been hiding behind the safe hands of religion and culture. More than 40 artists had sent their applications to participate in the exhibition and only 23 got selected.

Veteran artist Kiran Manandhar and visual artist Erina Tamrakar’s paintings are also featured at the exhibition as guest artists. Tamrakar has presented the nuances of women’s feelings in the ambience of medieval decorative patterns and traditional art forms. According to her, the use of red and gold-color leaves are shared from old manuscript illuminations.

Then, Manandhar too depicts the forms and figures of women as ‘Shakti’. In his statement, he shares, “The abstract works have their own definitions and their own language, but the people’s thoughts toward my work can be achieved with their own individual ways to define it. The work symbolizes love, power of women and their beauty.”

Meanwhile, being away from the conventional nude form, artist Suman Rai has painted the feet and the reason behind choosing it, he explains, “Like you need comfort and reason to take your clothes off your torso, you need comfort and reason to take your shoes off. Why don’t you find a connection, why don’t you see and feel your feet being nude?”

The exhibition also features works of Roshan Pradhan, Ishan Pariyar, Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Vincent Greby, Binod Pradhan, Namrata Shrestha, Kedar Dahal, Bishal Maharjan, Manjari Dutta, Prashant Shrestha, Sapal Shrestha and Yashubendra KC.

The exhibition continues till Thursday.