Are you scared of nudity – of being nude, seeing the nude? What can a naked body mean? Do you think of sex, luxury, birth, poverty, illness, health, seduction, age, power, vulnerability or anything else when you imagine a naked body? With photography competition called “Naked” we dared explore the subject. A show, diverse and revealing, was curated and hosted by RE:ARTISTE International Art Organization at Soho Photo Gallery, New York, in August 2016.

Soho Photo Gallery was founded in 1971 by a group of  New York Times photographers who wanted to create a venue for photography as fine art.  They wanted it to be a place to get together, show photography as often as possible – just by pinning the pictures to the walls, and get to know each other better, in the most casual way.

We, RE:ARTISTE, is the organization to help artists get discovered. Exposing artists to art enthusiasts, curators, producers, buyers, and collectors is our goal. In several years we became a platform for live and online art events, a network with more than 5,000 artists of various media: painting, photography, illustration and drawing, digital, mixed media, and even performance.

With the photography competition NAKED we made an attempt to explore the subject of nudity. Does ‘naked’ always mean ‘nude’ and vice versa? What can body language tell us? A totally broad vision of nudity  – in style, technique, and message – challenged us to curate a diverse yet splendid show. We are grateful to all artists who sent their works to the competition.

Finalists: Rodney J. Woodland, Gaspar Marquez, Alexey Wind, Andreas Theologitis, Brian Hiltz, Diane Kaye, Edward Lee, Mara Zaslove, Annie Gonzalez, Savannah Wishart.

Honorable Mentions: Boris Kraizman, Ekaterina Bykhovskaya, Ekaterina Kiryanova, Gisella Trapani, John Coles, Kat DiStefano, Nicolas De Cesare, Oliver Gingrich, Rosa Polin, Violeta Brown, Vlad Mikhel, Marek Dudek.

We thank Soho Photo Gallery for the generous support of our initiatives and ideas.