Artists Dan Coombs and Phillip Allen invited a hundred artists to make paintings on the theme of The Perfect Nude which follows from a previous show entitled The Perfect Crime. An aesthetic experiment, the show presents a comprehensive range of responses to the subject; its aim, to create a rich network of images that will establish a context for representation of the body in contemporary painting.

In part, Allen and Coombs’ interest lies in the idea of imposing a subject onto the participating artists, to see what happens when the artist no longer bears responsibility for the subject. The show also seeks to explore a genre that has perhaps been neglected in recent contemporary art, and seeks to break down barriers between genres. Many of those invited usually work in abstract or non-representational ways and the exhibition asks whether this implicitly psychological genre, which taps directly into the artistic psyche, is ripe for a contemporary reawakening.

Exhibition Blog here

See exhibition images here