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The male nude is erotically and politically charged. It is the pillar of the Western art canon, currently enjoying a real revival. And yet the full male nude is still taboo. The penis has for centuries been a symbol of desire, affirmed in ancient times, considered impure by Christian culture. Masculinity is the gender of the political ideal and privilege; hence, its exposure is the main target of anti-obscenity laws. An erotic display of full male nudity transgresses the patriarchal rules where the woman is a passive object and the man the active subject of looking. The exhibition reverses the traditional order and presents the nude male body as the aesthetic object of gaze and desire for both women and men! The gesture restores what has been repressed, uncovers hidden erotic and artistic history, and democratises the genders. Now that the homoerotic potential of the male nude has been unlocked, we see the work of men looking at other men and rendering their attractive, sensuous bodies in art.
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