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| The body as the intersection for both the Sexual and the Textual. Above, three of the photographs being exhibited at Infusion Gallery in Downtown LA as part of Darren Saravis' BodyText Project: Codes of Social Conduct. |
Helping voyeurism remain perpetually in fashion, photography is a historically documented ally of what the ‘good consciences’ might call obscene. You know anything that your mom called obscene it’s gonna be good, or better than good in many cases.
For artists, using the body as a canvas and the nude body in particular is a way of turning nudity invisible, of turning nudity off. People in the critical theory business would probably insert right here the word ‘de-commoditization’. De-commoditization of the nude female physique to be exact…
But how can you achieve the de-commoditization of nudity by using the nude body? How can you revisit the oft visited territory of nude photography and come away with a sense of achievement beyond the usual play of light, focus and such? One way is to mix two apparently dissimilar elements only to make the spectator realize in the end that these elements aren’t as dissimilar as originally thought.
An artist working along these conceptual lines is photographer Darren Saravis. Through his recent photographic endeavor, the body/text project, he attempts to challenge our perceptions of the nude female physique by using it as a passive canvas for text. The Sexual and the Textual all wrapped into one. That sexual and textual rhyme in several languages should hint us of their forgotten mutual bloodlines.
The body is nothing but text: tits, boobs, dicks, pec’s, rears, thin, fat, handsome, beautiful. Flesh is just the ink that makes it all visible against the invisible page of the world. The body is also the territory –the very disputed territory at that- where most social morals and conventions are contested. As you can see, the convergence of flesh and text isn’t just artistic license .
After a very hectic schedule showing his work in several galleries simultaneously around the country, Saravis' BodyText series will be showing at the Infusion Gallery in downtown LA. Some of the included works to be shown as part of the series ‘Codes of Social Conduct’ will be:
· The Antarctic Treaty
· Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water
· International Convention For The Regulation Of Whaling
The artist will also be showing two new pieces called “Koran, Women and Light”, done in collaboration with the bay-area Middle Eastern belly dancer Lisa Samaan.
Lisa will be performing a sword dance to the sound of the spoken verses at the gallery at 9 pm on Saturday March 22nd.
Infusion Gallery
719 South Spring Street,
Los Angeles, California 90014
213.683.8827
Time: 6-10pm, performance at 9pm
Admission: Free with code words "Bodytext Project"
www.darrensaravis.com
