The Art Gallery of NSW’s summer blockbuster sparkles with famous names, including Picasso, Matisse, Turner and Rodin. But for all of its trumpeting of risk and daring, it remains essentially a rather puritanical exercise.
While the female nude is valorised in fine art, real women’s nakedness still attracts social punishment. From sexting to concerns over public breastfeeding, ours is an uncomfortable relationship with the fleshy body.