Modernity Stripped Bare: Undressing the Nude in Contemporary Japanese Photography

Modernity Stripped Bare: Undressing the Nude in Contemporary Japanese Photography
Opening Reception
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
2202 Art-Sociology Building
University of Maryland, College Park

The Art Gallery presents an exhibition of the work of five photographers currently living and working in Japan who have chosen to use the nude to examine how our bodies mediate interpersonal relationships. Modernity Stripped Bare will feature photographs by Ryoko Suzuki, Yurie Nagashima, Ryudai Takano, Riichi Yamaguchi, and Manabu Yamanaka. These works confront a wide range of issues including gender, sexuality, physical deformation, aging, and isolation. "By revealing what is often left unseen, these photographers normalize the bodily experiences that are common to all of humanity and expose how isolation and prejudice are systems that operate by making certain populations invisible or visible only in socially prescribed ways," explains curator Elizabeth Johnson. "The photographers in this exhibition are united in their assertion that we can only come to understand one another if we are willing to see one another."

The public opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, March 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. With the exception of the University of Maryland's spring break from March 21-March 26, the exhibition will be open to the public through Saturday, April 23, 2011.