Gary Schneider: Nudes

Aperture Foundation, 2005. Hardbound. As New. Black cloth with laid-on color illustrations. 80pp., 35 four-color illustrations. With his newest series of nudes, Gary Schneider reminds us of art's capacity to effect and astonish. While these nudes are not flattering likenesses in the least, they dismantle the static, idealized nude and resonate anew with the subject's presence and with their sustained and intensely personal gaze. Following on his portraits, Gary Schneider uses his intimate exposure technique to create a record of this art making process on film. Wielding a small flashlight as his sole source of light, Schneider moves around his subjects as they lay on the floor, tracing their bodies and staying attentive to how they react during the process. This long exposure—both a photographic and personal exposure—is recorded on the film as if it were instantaneous, showing the varied emotions and movements taking place throughout the sitting as if it were one, unified body. The final product, the nude portrait, both reveals and conceals what went on during the exposure process. Again and again, Schneider pays special attention to sensory and erogenous areas; eyes, hands, genitals appear brightly.