COVE

Display Explanation: 

To begin with, in order to achieve the effect I want, the three paintings may not be presented as its original size. Instead, an enlarged copy of these original paintings will be utilized to mimic the size of a real human. That is, all three paintings will be enlarged to a size that’s similar to one of a real human (about 50-75cm wide and 150-175cm long).  The reason for such act is simple—I want the audience to be able to see the woman in the paitings as if they are presented as real human, so the size of their body should naturally be the size of a real human body. The room that I will present these three images in will be an isolated, indoor cubic room with no windows. The lighting of the room will be depended on yellow stage-lights that are hanging from the ceiling. The lights will inluminate the entire room with soft, yellow light, as if one was gently covered by sunlight (the temperatue of the room will also be set higher than regular room temperature to achieve this effect). However, the lights will only be illuminating when the door of the room is closed.

Then, as the audience enter the room, they must open a door to get in, and will thus only see darkness (a little light will be coming from outside the door so the audience will not be entirely blinded). And as soon as they closed the door, the tender yellow lights will automatically be triggered to illuminate the entire room. Then, the audience will see the three walls in their front, left and right to be covered with loose pink bed sheets haging on the walls, a standard “women color” that will create a feminine atmosphere. Then, they will see three standard white duvet beds, one on each side of the room and in the middle of the wall (front, left, and right). The three paintings will each be sitting on one of the beds, with Olympia on the front bed staring directly at the audience, Nude Woman on the right bed, and Tepidarium on the left bed. At the same time, there will be a fog machine under each bed, releasing fog as if these women just came out of a shower and are “steaming” from their body, creating a sense of warmth in addition to the warm yellow light and high room temperature.

As the warmth, the yellow light, the pink bed sheets, the “steam” and the naked women “lying” on the beds all creating a sense of sexuality, there will not be any background music so the audience will be focused on their visual and skin stimulations. They will be free to approach each women and examine their nude body closely as they wish, as there will not be any fence to separate the audience and the paiting. This is what I want to achieve as the theme of the room is “seduction and sexiness”—I want the warm and welcoming atmosphere, restriction-less display, and elements of sexuality to naturally attract the audience to the three women that are waiting for them on the bed. At last, when they turn their back to face the door to exit, they will see the instellation note being printed on the back wall, as it will just be a white wall with black words on it, this is designed to make the instillation notes easy to read. On top of the instillation note, there will be two “headlines” on each side of the back wall that is enlarged in font size and says: “Were you seduced by them?” and “What makes a woman sexy?” as these are the main questions I want the audience to reflect on after they exit the room.

Installation Note: 

Were you seduced by these women? That is, do you think they are sexy, Why or why not? The representation of women as seuxal objects has long been a tradition in the history of visual art. However, what are the key elements of sexuality? This question is, in fact, what this entire exhibition is about. Here we have three very similar paintings all depicting a naked woman laying on bed—Olympia, Tepidarium, and Nude Woman. And from a first glimpse, this shared similarity may seem like the reason why I chose to put them together. However, the true reason for why I chose to put them together is actually the obvious contrast that lies under the similarities. That is, the level of sexuality in these three paintings are drastically different to me.

On one hand, in The Tepidarium, the naked woman seems like she just came out of a shower, with her cheeks blushing in redness from the heat and her skin glimmering. Her hands are also holding strigil and a duster, both are items used for cleaning. The seductiveness of this painting is quite high, as she seemed to be “cleaned and ready”, with her eyes closed and her lips slightly open, almost looking like an invitation. In addition, the Nude Woman are very similar to the Tepidarium—the way their bodies are curved, glimmering, and the way they are both not paying attention to the audience YET looked like they are inviting us to look at them makes these two paintings echo with each other.  On the other hand, in Olympia, even though it is also a naked women laying on the bed, the seductiveness of it is drastically lower than the previous one. The way she is confronting the audience by staring straight at them (the oppositional gaze), makes this image almost, in a way, become disturbing instead of seductive. And the fact of having such great difference in even when the level of nudity and posture is almost the same is very intriguing to me, as it has brought attention to question the essence of sexuality—is nudity a determining factor? Or is nudity not as important as we thought it would be in the sexuality of an image?

Besides the element of the oppositional gaze that can have a significant effect on the level of sexuality, other elements that are present in the image (besides the woman herself) can also produce a great impact. For example, the common element of bed in all three of these images is clearly an addition to the level of sexuality. On the other hand, the black cat and the black woman that are present in Olympia seemed to both have a negative effect on the level of sexuality, as black cat is a symbol of deceitfulness and unloyalty and black women as a unattractive figure. On the other hand, the red blossoms (symbol of love), the duster (tickling) and even the strigil (which almost look like a sex toy) all added to the level of sexuality of the Tepidarium. As of the Nude Woman, the pink duvet (feminine) and the lace sheet (innocence and purity) also added to its level of sexuality.

In the end, I hope that this exhibition has given you an insight and perhaps even an inspiration on the essence of sexuality. On a really realistic approach, perhaps you would now know that in order for you to appear sexy and attractive, you don’t necessarily have to be naked. Your appearance as being vulnerable or welcoming, your posture and your decorations can all contribute a lot to your level of sexuality. On a more philosophical level, you may have now become aware of the manifestation of symbolism and gender expectations that has deeply rooted in our minds. The way we have objectified women as a symbol of sexuality and the way we expected them to behave sexually has perpetuated these three paintings. Yet they are still just a tiny selection within the long history of such toxic art traditions.

Alma-Tadema, Lawrence. The Tepidarium. 1881. Lady Lever Art Gallery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Alma_Tadema#/media/File:Tepidariu...(1836-1912).jpg. Accessed 29 Jan, 2022.

Manet, Edouard. Olympia. 1863. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Édouard_Manet#/media/File:Edouard_Manet_-_Olympia_-_Google_Art_Project_3.jpg. Accessed Jan 11, 2022.

Joaquín, Sorolla. Nude Woman. 1902. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Desnudo_de_mujer_-_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla_-_1902.jpg&oldid=846702526. Accessed 29 Jan, 2024.