Eli Narev
Sydney Grammar School
EX CAMERA
Sculpture
Acrylic, plaster, bronze, charcoal, aquatint
My body of work explores art’s traditional interest with intimate feminine moments, while also considering the voyeuristic undercurrent present in many artworks featuring female nudes. Motivated by the consistent and perhaps invasive portrayal of the female form throughout art history, I used a variety of materials to re-imagine, subvert, confront and re-contextualise the way the female form has been represented by artists such as Rodin, Degas and Brian Dunlop. I then constructed the relief sculpture to introduce a concrete representation of the male gaze.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists and works: Edgar Degas, Woman Combing her Hair, The Tub; Auguste Rodin, Danaïd; Brian Dunlop, Cleo's Breakfast; Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.
Marker's Commentary
Ex Camera is a discerning Body of Work that examines and questions the place and depiction of the female nude in western art. Inspired by research into a selection of artists, Eli Narev reinterprets propositions of the male gaze and asks the viewer to consider and scrutinise the unequal relationships between male and female. Ex Camera confidently provides the audience with new perspectives within the canon of female forms. Connections with art history are represented with three intimate sculptures inspired by Rodin and Degas, with the subtle subversion of re-takes of their practice and context in art history. Materially, this Body of Work takes on a journey from bronze casting, to clay, plaster, drawing and printmaking that conceptually delves into the related influences and power of the gaze and voyeurism to the representation of quiet intimate moments.
