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equilibriarte.net : Savina Carluccio : blog : Which Diana would you look at?

Which Diana would you look at?









The National Gallery is celebrating this summer Cultural Olympiads with a multi-arts exhibition inspired by Titian's masterpieces Diana and Actaeon, The Death of Actaeon and the recently acquired Diana and Callisto.


In particular the latter, Diana and Callisto,  has inspired Turner Prize Winner Mark Wallinger's installation which re-creates of Diana's bathing scene but featuring real women. He launched a campaign on Twitter to find six women called Diana in real life who were willing to strip bare and re-enact Diana's bath in the middle of the National Gallery. So they take baths in two-hour shifts and visitors can see them through peep holes - what a job for the summer.


Useless to say that lots more men have showed up and some of them several times in a week to enjoy the artistic nude. The National Gallery is chock full of nudes, they are everywhere hanging off the walls. However, Mark Wallinger's voyeristic installation seems to have created a lot of distraction from the real Titian's masterpiece. And it makes you think about (some not all) "spectator's position in relation to art".


 Here goes the question: which Diana would you look at?



Mark Wallinger's installation - Diana taking a bath



 Titian - Diana and Callisto


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