15 August 2018, at Mall Galleries, London.
Portrait and figure painting is often judged on the conventional attractiveness of the sitter rather than the quality of the painting. I was invited to be part of a panel that looked at the ways in which artists, sitters and commissioners can turn that gaze to challenge conceptions of conventional beauty.
This video extract from the discussion focuses on the views of life models, beginning with my own, and includes the invaluable contributions of models and artists in the audience.
The panel was chaired by Alastair Adams, past President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Speakers were: Emma Hopkins RP, Artist; Henrietta Spalding, Head of Advocacy at Changing Faces; Esther Bunting, Performance artist and Founder of Spirited Bodies; Sylvia Mac, Founder of Love Disfigure.
Read more about some of themes raised in this discussion at: spiritedbodies.com/2018/08/22/the-male-gaze-in-life-drawing/
