CULTURE Le naked picnic on Edgewood by Devon Geyelin YH Staff
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here are a lot of great places to be naked, but a picnic is arguably one of the best. Reservations? Walk to the 32 Edgewood Gallery and I’ll have you convinced. I found myself thinking about the gallery a few weeks ago, on my way to exercise my undying affection for the Duke’s Men at a post-audition-concert party near Mamoun’s. So what that my fangirl-incrime and I were the only “non-doox” there? I have zero regrets because: 1. I had a great time and 2. The winding path from Park to Howe Street took me right by the elegant, lesser-known gallery and a sign outside advertising its new exhibition. It’s called “Lunch with Olympia,” and it showcases a collection of contemporary artists’ interpretations of Édouard Manet’s classics “Olympia” and “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe” (or, in English, “Le naked picnic”). The exhibition coincides with a conference sponsored by Yale’s History of Art and French departments celebrating the 150th anniversary of the two paintings, and is free to the public from now until Nov. 21. As the end to naked picnic season is steadily and sadly approaching, check it out before the window of opportunity begins to frost over. “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe” depicts two fully clothed men having lunch by a stream with a glowingly bare woman. Another woman, lightly dressed, bathes herself in the background. The men and nude sit amongst
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The Yale Herald (Sept. 27, 2013)
a smattering of bread and fruit tumbling from their picnic basket, and the woman stares straight into the eyes of viewer, as if to say, “Bonjour, I’m naked. Quel est le problem?” “Olympia” features a naked woman reclining on a white bed (indoors, this time) while her black maid offers her a bouquet of flowers. Here, again, the nude is staring directly at the viewer. Her pose and accessories suggest her occupation as a prostitute. Like “Le déjeuner”, the painting sparked considerable shock and controversy in 1863 Paris. The exhibition at 32 Edgewood holds neither of these pieces, but does offer a series of works—photographs, drawings, paintings, and videos—that reimagine and address the scenes and issues raised in the two paintings, particularly, themes of race and gender relations. Some of the works shown are clearly related to Monet’s original pieces even for those who haven’t kept up with their art history readings (guilty): there are a few etchings, drawings, and paintings of adapted versions of the two scenes, as well as multi-race old Western version of the picnic, an oiled-up drag version of the picnic, a video of a woman reclining on a white bed, and some photos of young girls taking on the “Olympia” pose in modern settings. One standout is a series of 24 elegantly drawn images. Each contains a geometric representation of the four figures of “Le déjeuner,” (rectangu-
lar stick figure for the man; triangular for the woman) filled in with graphite to represent the various combinations of dress and undress. That said, I do have kind of a thing for minimal, mathematically-tinged line drawings, so go see for yourself! I was a little slower to make the connection in some of the less clearly derivative works. There’s one large sheet of warped brown paper, and an Italian Adidas ad of a male athlete getting his foot pumiced, the surface of the print dripped with something reminiscent of bodily fluid. But inspiration is as inspiration does, so who am I to judge? Towards the end of my visit, I found myself watching a silent video projected on one of the walls. A group of men in Thailand sit on the ground of a forest, looking at a reproduction of “Le dejeuner.” We see their subtitled conversation about the naked woman and her companions, which included refreshingly nonacademic responses: “Her breast is like an herb bag,” “I would have run away if it were me,” “The girl’s a floozy,” and the astute, “It may be more comfortable to be naked.” Word. But my favorite was probably the small painting that featured no one but a deserted picnic and a rumpled lawn chair cushion, forgotten by the side of a summery pool. The naked picnic had just ended, and the picnickers, it would seem, are on to item two. —graphic by Christine Mi YH Staff