ARTE E CULTURA
Kim Kardashian has famously created a taboo with her Instagram posts (see an example below). Her unique public openness regarding her body has created extreme reactions on either end of the scale. She challenges and underlines Instagram’s censorship of the human body. Instagram blocks all nudity, with the interesting exceptions being breastfeeding, post-mastectomy scarring, paintings and sculptures.
So, with modern Western culture picking up on its Judeo-Christian roots, the RA exhibition is an interesting reminder that there are other attitudes. Whilst the story of the nude may be considered to be dominated by the male gaze upon a female subject, the ideals of the Renaissance complicate such a simplistic understanding. We are reminded of our values and their history as we return to debate controversial subjects such as nudity and it can only be beneficial to be more informed about how values have changed.
These subjects are not only controversial, but also intensely personal. With new efforts to recognise the prevalence of male suicide, this exhibition will have at the very least some impact on the conversation that insecurity about one’s body is not only a female issue.
Here is a link to RA’s exhibition:
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/the-renaissance-nude
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM
@kimkardashian
By: WILL HOLMES