19/06/2018 Lívia Fernandes
Have you thought about the elements that are most portrayed in the visual arts? In this text, I will discus the fact that the body permeates the world of the arts, more specifically, the visual arts. It is through the body that the artist often sees a way of expressing his ideals, his thoughts or simply something that he wants to portray in his work, using this element to communicate with the viewer. In society the body participates or acts as the protagonist in several areas of our experience. Among them:
- Health and wellness;
- Religion;
- Sexuality;
- Art.
Before discussing this last item (which is the one we are interested in) we will put some thoughts into the question.
What is the definition of a body?
According to the French anthropologist David Le Breton (2011) “Living consists of continually reducing the world to the body, from the symbolic that its embodies. The existence of man is corporeal. ” We thus agree that the body is the primordial resource for decreeing the existence of being. And with all this responsibility to represent us, it brings with it symbols and information in charge of communicating (or shutting down) socially.
It is through the body that cultures are expressed with all their customs, languages and values. This fits into ethnic, religious, academic niches and could not be different in the history of art.
Body: relevant, present and engaging
We will see below the Venus of Willendorf, a statuette estimated to have been made more than 22,000 or 24,000 years ago, but only discovered in 1908. Note the breasts, belly and genital organ, which may suggest the representation and importance of fertility through of this female body.
The relevance of the body goes through the visual arts, being portrayed according to the moment in which it is found. In the Renaissance period the body is turned to the cult of the beautiful, ceasing to be the object of sin and becoming an instrument of pleasure. The development of science and mathematics contributes to the character of Renaissance painting. Parisotto (2009) states that “[…] the Renaissance image would give us the best notion of space, the most faithful to reality; the representation of nature should be as close to reality as the eyes of the human being see. ” We can exemplify with some famous works, such as Michelangelo’s David, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
Finally, in order to demonstrate artistic changes once again under contextual influences, Cubism arises by proposing the renunciation of perspective and adding geometric forms as composers of images. The body appears deconstructed, not more perfect and symmetrically represented. Below, Georges Braque composes “The man with the guitar”:
The body is the subject of study, analysis, criticism and punishment. In contemporary times, we live in a moment when everything is observed and charged according to socially established standards, contributing to the exclusion of bodies not obedient to this archetype. Some artists propose through their works, the reflection on these social prototypes, being able to favor the deconstruction of the spectator. Next, I present the work of the contemporary artist Adriana Varejão called “Linda do Rosário”, a name that belonged to a hotel that collapsed in Rio de Janeiro in 2002.
The story of this work tells that a couple of lovers were in one of the hotel rooms that collapsed, where they both passed away. The wall – which on the outside has a clean white tile – has its interior composed of organs, blood, viscera, as a body the way it is, with what has in common to all people. There are also analyzes that indicate the denunciation of the donation of workers exploited for progress, construction and production. What is beautiful and great is the result of the sweat and blood of many bodies.
And today, how do you perceive the body in today’s art and society? Show us your vision of this element of expression, endurance and art!
Bibliography
PARISOTTO, Giovanna. As Vênus do Renascimento, 2009. Disponível em: <http://www.uel.br/eventos/eneimagem/anais/trabalhos/pdf/Parisotto_Giovanna%20Chaves.pdf>. Acesso em: 23/07/2017.
Imagens
Vênus de Willendorf. Disponível em: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_von_Willendorf.jpg> Acesso em: 23/07/2017.
Mona Lisa. Disponível em: < https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mona_Lisa>. Acesso em 23/07/2017.
Homem com violão. Disponível em <http://eejosejustino.blogspot.com.br/2013/04/365-dias-de-arte.html>. Acesso em 23/07/2017.11
Linda do Rosário. Disponível em <http://www.inhotim.org.br/blog/linda-do-rosario-uma-historia-de-amor/>. Acesso em 1308/2017.
