"A Celebration of the Figure VII" at the MOCA Gallery

[rrebold]

"A Celebration of the Figure VII" opened with a bang last Friday night at the MOCA Gallery in Georgetown.  Attendees were treated to performances by belly dancers, a live musician, live painting exhibitions and live nude statues.  The show's artwork included painting, sculpture and photography by some of the gallery's regular's but also a volume of new work from first time exhibitors. Gallery Director and master of ceremonies David Quammen introduced the various acts and generally kept things moving, providing a constantly changing visual experience that transcended any typical sterile, wine and cheese and crackers art opening.  As entertaining and inventive as the opening activities were; there are some real visual art gems in this exhibit. This review can only touch upon a very few of those represented.


Ian Goddard's art included a couple of photo realistic nudes in an illustrative presentation that in many ways achieves for a nude what Audubon represents for indigenous birds, etc.



ARTDC.ORG artist Raju Jan Singh continues to exhibit top notch fine art nudes as represented in this subset of his offering.



Stephen Jennings' creations score squarely at the theme of figurative art with his three dimensional works.



Jonny Dukovich's art presents male and female nudes in an otherworldly context with depth and interest.



Sonnie Mason's fine art nude photography, much of which is film-based, pushes beyond any typical stale poses to a strong original style.



Will Kay's apparent pen and ink art seemed to communicate something about the individual in a social context.



Belly dancers entertained.



Some carried their own potential illumination.



Others seem to create their own weather.


Nude statues provoked and inspired.



Attendees included many of the DC area's artistic community; photographer and Falls Church Artistic Outreach Director Shaun van Steyn made an appearance complete with an actual rattlesnake belt.



Gallery Director and master of ceremonies David Quammen directed and thanked the fine dancers.

Certainly the exhibit is of interest to figurative artists and to humanists with its accomplished artistry and definite positive sexual charge.  It remains up in the gallery until August 1; all high functioning beings with an interest in figurative art are advised to visit.


The below links to another figurative art exhibit held at MOCA DC:
http://artdc.org/forum/index.php?topic=8389.0

[Ian Goddard]

Ian Goddard's art included a couple of photo realistic nudes in an illustrative presentation that in many ways achieves for a nude what Audubon represents for indigenous birds, etc.

Wow! Thank you so much Rhett! I'm truly honored both to be in the show and in your beautiful review of it! So many wonderful photos therein that capture the energy of the show and its reception. The last photo showing Dave captures such a real moment -- a real keeper!

This review is art about art -- metaArt!    ~Ian

[Jesse]

Yes, Rhett!  Thank you for the review.  I'm so happy to read about artist's experiences in the DC scene.
I really liked the look of Will Kay's image. 

[Tracy Lee]

any females artists represented in this show?

seeing lots of naked females on the walls, but a room full of men...

[rrebold]

There may have been fewer female artists this time.  Probably the unconscious bias of the camera operator on the preponderance of female nudes, because there were more than a few male nudes, but I believe most of them were done by men.  Perhaps some of your work would spice it up!?

Here's a couple of the represented male nudes:


Some of Dan Murray's art.


Work by an unidentified Artist

Cheers!

[greenmoon]

Hi Rhett,

It was nice to meet you at the opening. Thanks for the review. I always enjoy MOCA shows and love Dave's creativity in putting them together.

I am planning to do more pieces with combining both male and female figures.

Cheers,
Johnny

[Lights_Shadows]

Rhett,

Thanks so much for the write-up and for including some of my images !
Cheers

Raju

[David Quammen]

Roughly 40% of the entries were by women artists - one in the front lobby is probably best-in-show, and it was done by a female artist - my good friend Biba. That was about the same percentage of participants - 40 % women, the rest men. But then given the theme, men are more likely to come than women. Have to change that somehow - am open to suggestion.

But Tracy, I miss having your work in the shows - they always seemed to find the better spots in the gallery.

[David Quammen]

Just thought it would be worth mentioning that Will Kay is an artist from Atlanta, GA -- we do manage to have national and international representation every now and then.

[Ian Goddard]

Roughly 40% of the entries were by women artists - one in the front lobby is probably best-in-show, and it was done by a female artist - my good friend Biba. That was about the same percentage of participants - 40 % women, the rest men. But then given the theme, men are more likely to come than women. Have to change that somehow - am open to suggestion.

And one of the attendees of the show's opening above was Marie Maccabee, who's an artist and a model appearing in one of the paintings seen above (and just below) by my friend Evan Goldman.

For those where weren't there, Marie posed for an impromptu representation of the painted pose of her. Here's a photo of that, which I took (posted here with her permission):

Marie is a great model! And such a dynamic pose and painting! ~Ian

[Jesse]

Yeah.  I like the pose a lot.