Editor:
It is sad that we live in a time and place where the human body is rarely contemplated except in a hyper-sexualized way. A stroll past any magazine rack or fashionable clothing store (male or female) reinforces this all-pervasive message with which popular culture and commercial interests bombard our consciousness, and those of our children. We seem to have abandoned any appreciation of ourselves as beautiful creatures, admirable in our own right, in all our forms, and celebrated by sculptors and painters since the dawn of humanity.
I see the current exhibition of life drawings at the SCAC Gallery as a rare opportunity to present to our young people (and not so young) an alternative message – the inherent beauty of all of us and our bodies. The chance not to look away or giggle or feel uncomfortable, but to be aware of the wonderful organism we all inhabit and because, yes, we are looking at ourselves, with all our glorious imperfections, beautiful nonetheless.
If we cannot present these images as a normal part of life, then we must never take our children to Rome or Paris or Florence or to the Louvre, or the Royal Winnipeg Ballet or the National Gallery. What a shame.
What an opportunity missed.
C. Righton, Gibsons
