A Group of Seven is a body of work that presents seven realistic, large-scale figurative paintings. Each painting presents a specific couple, intimately engaged and in seven different west coast of British Columbia landscapes.
Consistently my partner and myself model the characters in my work. In these paintings, we play roles in scenes that reference both art history and pop culture. Renaissance paintings of the nude and the iconic Group of Seven are re-envisioned, within the context of popular cultures images and icons.
This works uses traditional allegory to define themes, composed and illustrated, to illicit attention. Nude figures and tranquil landscapes are easy paintings to look at.
However, there is speculation about the future of art and whether or not figurative painting is a viable option, now or in the approaching millennium. Photo based art challenges paintings cultural values as does feminist ideology regarding the female nude. But, politicized,voyeuristic paintings of the nude, despite their archaic relationship with pleasure, remain invariably seductive.
A Group of Seven was realized despite the controversial “Death of Painting” to be seductive without objectifying and to challenge historic idealization of the female nude. In each of these paintings the female figure embodies strength and commands respect by redirecting the “gaze” back at the viewer. She is no longer a passive object or a silent witness, but an enabled participant with new strategies, and in a better position to create and seduce from.
Laurie Papou 1997
