Vienna museum creates a buzz with nude men exhibit
Days before its exhibition debut, the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria covered up controversial posters that showcased soccer players exposing their more intimate parts after receiving numerous complaints from the public. The visual advertisements — along with a 13-foot full-frontal photo sculpture of a reclining naked man called Mr. Big — were part of a provocative campaign to tease the launch of the museum’s “Nackte Manner” (Naked Men) exhibition.
“Previous exhibitions on the theme of nudity have mostly been limited to female nudes,” according to the Leopold Museum on its site. “Spanning two centuries, the presentation will show different artistic approaches to the subject, competing ideas of the ideal male model as well as changes in the concept of beauty, body image and values.”
The exhibition, which features some 300 works showing diverse and changing depictions of naked men from 1800 to the present day, runs until January 28, 2013.
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- Tourists take a picture of an artwork entitled ‘Mr Big’ by Austrian artist Ilse Haider, displayed outside of the Leopold Museum in Vienna, for a forthcoming an art exhibition on nude men, entitled ‘Nackte Manner’ (Naked Men), on October 16, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A dog stands in a pool in front of an art installation promoting the exhibition ‘Nude Men’ at the Leopold museum in Vienna October 9, 2012. The exhibition, showing diverse and changing depictions of naked men from 1800 to the present day, opens from October 19 until January 28, 2013. (Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)
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- A police officer stands next to a poster with naked soccer players daubed with spray paint, advertising an art exhibition in Vienna October 17, 2012. Vienna’s Leopold Museum has decided to cover the “intimate parts” of three naked male soccer players on large posters put up in the Austrian capital after they caused an outcry. The ‘Naked Men’ exhibition, which opens on Friday and runs until January 28, 2013, is designed to show how the depiction of male nudity has evolved in art history. Around 300 art works – including the controversial photograph by French artists Pierre & Gilles called ‘Vive La France’ of three men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots – will be on display. (/Herwig Prammer/Reuters)
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- A men cycles past a controversial advertising picture by French artists Pierre et Gilles depicting a nude man with soccer socks and shoes, for a art exhibition on nude men, entitled ‘Nude Men,’ in Vienna on October 16, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A woman walks past a wall with the title of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude Men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A visitor looks at the painting ‘Male Torso’ by French painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres during a preview of the art exhibition ‘Nude Men’ at the Leopold museum in Vienna October 18, 2012. The exhibition of around 300 art works, which runs until January 28, 2013, is designed to show how the depiction of male nudity has evolved in art history. (Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)
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- A man with a beard passes by an artwork by Croatian artist Tomislav Gotovac, entitled ‘Foxy Mister,’ as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude Men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images, cropping by The Baltimore Sun)
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- A woman looks at sculptures and artwork as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A woman looks at an artwork by French artist duo Pierre et Gilles (Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard) entitled ‘Vive la France (Long Live France),’ as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude Men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images, cropping by The Baltimore Sun)
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- A man looks at an artwork by French artist duo Pierre et Gilles (Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard) entitled ‘Vive la France (Long Live France),’ as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude Men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images, cropping by The Baltimore Sun)
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- A man looks at artworks displayed as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude Men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images, cropping by The Baltimore Sun)
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- A woman looks at an artwork by William Bouguereau, entitled ‘Equality before Death,’ as part of the ‘Nackte Maenner’ (Nude men) exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, on October 18, 2012. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Visitors attend the preview of the art exhibition ‘Nude Men’ at the Leopold museum in Vienna October 18, 2012. (Heinz-Peter Bader /Reuters)
‘Nude Men’ art exhibition in Austria sparks conversation
By David Ng | LA Times
10:13 a.m. EDT, October 18, 2012
An art exhibition in Vienna titled “Nude Men” — “Nackte Manner” in German — is stimulating considerable media attention in Austria. The show, which opens this week at the Leopold Museum, is dedicated to depictions of male nudity from the 19th century to the present day, and includes paintings, sculpture, photographs and more.
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