NUDE & NAKED
Not For Everyone

If you might have been uncomfortable drinking out of the new Starbucks Bare-Breasted Mermaid Cups (now banned) then this Exhibit is not for you.

Minors with Parents ONLY!

NUDE & NAKED

After you see the current MASTER PHOTOGRAPHERS 1840 to 1940 Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC come visit the BRILL GALLERY and see NUDE & NAKED - Photographs from 1960 to 2008 by some of the world’s best photographers using the latest cameras and technologies. NUDE & NAKED is one of the most beautiful and important photographic exhibits of the 2008 season. North Adams is an art filled community located in the Northern Berkshires. We are within walking distance of MASS MoCA and nearby to The Clark and The Williams College Museum of Art.

I have been planning this Exhibit for more than a year. It is a celebration of the Human Body in all its sizes and shapes as has been done for thousands of years though through photography and Western sensibilities. NUDE & NAKED is very timely as in the past few weeks two major events occurred: (1) As part of Starbucks’ efforts to reinvigorate its brand it brought back its old logo on its coffee cups which had a bare-breasted mermaid with her tails apart. Various Christian groups called for a Starbucks boycott as they read the naked seafaring siren as a prostitute with her legs spread apart. Starbucks’ reaction to this threat was to stop printing the new design. This is a setback. (2) Curiously, on the other hand, the Catholic Church should be praised as it has officially approved that the Virgin Mary may now be depicted bare-breasted. This has taken more than 500 years to happen. The original Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel was decorated with many nudes and maybe in time those will be revealed as well. Whereas many of the world’s religions are demanding that less flesh be exposed - the Vatican is being very modern. By the way, in 1916 the U.S. Quarter Dollar had a bare-breasted Lady Liberty on one side. The outcry was so enormous that the next version had Lady Liberty covered up. Maybe the U.S. will follow the Vatican’s example and reissue the topless Lady Liberty? NUDE & NAKED includes some of the world’s best and museum collected photographers. Many of these photographs are from private collections and are being shown to the public for the first time. Please enjoy, visit us in North Adams and buy - all images are being offered for sale.

Ralph Brill
Director
July 2008

Gallery

The Artists