A model-led push for change has split Melbourne's life-drawing scene
December 18, 2024 7:50 PM Subscribe
A model-led push for change has split Melbourne's life-drawing scene. Life modelling attracts people from all walks of life to showcase their bodies, but some in the industry say a reckoning is due for artists who overstep boundaries.
I’ve got to know a few life models this year, and they’re a really interesting bunch. It’s very clear to me that they do talk about which artists are ok to work with, and which aren’t…
posted by The River Ivel at 5:40 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 5:40 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
I've been sporadically attending life drawing classes for the last year or so, and I can attest that some of my fellow artists have issues with boundaries when it comes to interactions with the models.
Nothing as egregious as some of the behavior listed in this article, (someone who took photos during a session would be insta-banned for example). Micro-managing the model's poses is also a common problem.
Far too often, people approach models during breaks and strike up conversations (modelling is often emotionally and physically draining, give them their space people!).
But the moderator at my space says the #1 issue by far is people wanting to hire the model for personal sessions, often times these are innocuous but not always. Our center has good guidelines for this, (because many models are actually seeking further employment): ask the proctor of the session and they will serve as an intermediary, but asking the model directly is forbidden.
posted by jeremias at 5:54 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
Nothing as egregious as some of the behavior listed in this article, (someone who took photos during a session would be insta-banned for example). Micro-managing the model's poses is also a common problem.
Far too often, people approach models during breaks and strike up conversations (modelling is often emotionally and physically draining, give them their space people!).
But the moderator at my space says the #1 issue by far is people wanting to hire the model for personal sessions, often times these are innocuous but not always. Our center has good guidelines for this, (because many models are actually seeking further employment): ask the proctor of the session and they will serve as an intermediary, but asking the model directly is forbidden.
posted by jeremias at 5:54 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
IIRC, when Jacques Rivette's La Belle Noiseuese came out, with its depiction of the artist impatiently twisting his nude model's limbs into excruciatingly uncomfortable poses, Philip Pearlstein, whose whole thing was nudes, was published in a magazine saying, uh, yeah, that actually is not going to work for you.
posted by Lemkin at 6:02 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 6:02 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
@Lemkin - https://openbibart.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=oba_0050466 says you're right (from Art in America)
The American realist artist, known for his paintings of nudes, critiques from personal experience the Jacques Rivette film, La Belle Noiseuse (1991), which explores the relationship between an artist and his model.
posted by adekllny at 6:10 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
The American realist artist, known for his paintings of nudes, critiques from personal experience the Jacques Rivette film, La Belle Noiseuse (1991), which explores the relationship between an artist and his model.
posted by adekllny at 6:10 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]
I used to do modelling for life drawing classes. It was usually quite pleasant. The worst I experienced was a lecturer who made me hang in a sort of cage, so uncomfortable I sweated and trembled for the entire session. Her concession to my "comfort" was saying I could keep my underwear on, no thanks, that's so much worse than being naked!
I do wish there had been some kind of organisation as there is in this article. I did some really stupid things that make my hair stand on end now. Like a sculptor who asked me to model for him in his home, alone. He picked me up on his motorbike and the modelling session was weirdly short. Nothing untoward happened but I now think it might have been an attempt at a seduction and I didn't pick up the signals.
posted by Zumbador at 6:55 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
I do wish there had been some kind of organisation as there is in this article. I did some really stupid things that make my hair stand on end now. Like a sculptor who asked me to model for him in his home, alone. He picked me up on his motorbike and the modelling session was weirdly short. Nothing untoward happened but I now think it might have been an attempt at a seduction and I didn't pick up the signals.
posted by Zumbador at 6:55 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
Micro-managing the model's poses is also a common problem.
Life model here. This can be appropriate, to a degree. It's common in my "academic-style" sessions for the monitor or instructor to make very specific requests of the model when setting up a long pose. The model is allowed and encouraged to push back and make suggestions if they feel that the pose would be too uncomfortable to hold over a long period of time. This negotiation can take several minutes.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:25 AM on December 19, 2024 [7 favorites]
Life model here. This can be appropriate, to a degree. It's common in my "academic-style" sessions for the monitor or instructor to make very specific requests of the model when setting up a long pose. The model is allowed and encouraged to push back and make suggestions if they feel that the pose would be too uncomfortable to hold over a long period of time. This negotiation can take several minutes.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:25 AM on December 19, 2024 [7 favorites]
I have been life drawing for many years now and have always considered it a privilege that a model is willing to place themselves in a vulnerable position to help us learn and grow as artists.
There have unfortunately been situations I have witnessed that have been inappropriate, from artists, facilitators and even the models themselves. Although I cannot stress enough that these instances have very much been in the minority and most sessions have been respectful.
The flip side to micromanaging models is not giving them any direction at all, which is a pretty common issue, especially with models new to the profession.
A model is a partner to the artist. Like many situations, communication and boundaries are important. So having a clear and consistent code of conduct is a step in the right direction.
posted by AlanSmitheetheThird at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
There have unfortunately been situations I have witnessed that have been inappropriate, from artists, facilitators and even the models themselves. Although I cannot stress enough that these instances have very much been in the minority and most sessions have been respectful.
The flip side to micromanaging models is not giving them any direction at all, which is a pretty common issue, especially with models new to the profession.
A model is a partner to the artist. Like many situations, communication and boundaries are important. So having a clear and consistent code of conduct is a step in the right direction.
posted by AlanSmitheetheThird at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]
The flip side to micromanaging models is not giving them any direction at all, which is a pretty common issue, especially with models new to the profession.
Back in 1989, Sports Illustrated did a video tie-in with the 25th anniversary edition of the Swimsuit Issue. (Directed by the Maysles Brothers!) One segment had a very young Elle Macpherson working with a photographer from a sports background. (That was not uncommon. A treat for the sports photogs? Who knows.)
Anyway, she’s standing there on the beach in a one-piece with no back at all except some strings, presumably dealing with that in whatever way models do, and she’s calling to the cigar-chewing lout behind the lens many yards away questions like “Should I play with my hair? Kneel on the sand?”, getting audibly anxious that she’s screwing up somehow.
Julie Campbell, the editorial person who has supervised all the swimsuit issues since they began, calls back reassuringly to the Aussie lass and then begins impatiently instructing the photog in her nasal Bronx voice:
“Jay, you have to give a model direction.”
posted by Lemkin at 3:51 PM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
Back in 1989, Sports Illustrated did a video tie-in with the 25th anniversary edition of the Swimsuit Issue. (Directed by the Maysles Brothers!) One segment had a very young Elle Macpherson working with a photographer from a sports background. (That was not uncommon. A treat for the sports photogs? Who knows.)
Anyway, she’s standing there on the beach in a one-piece with no back at all except some strings, presumably dealing with that in whatever way models do, and she’s calling to the cigar-chewing lout behind the lens many yards away questions like “Should I play with my hair? Kneel on the sand?”, getting audibly anxious that she’s screwing up somehow.
Julie Campbell, the editorial person who has supervised all the swimsuit issues since they began, calls back reassuringly to the Aussie lass and then begins impatiently instructing the photog in her nasal Bronx voice:
“Jay, you have to give a model direction.”
posted by Lemkin at 3:51 PM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
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Also, I'll never understand artists (in a life-drawing situation, anyway) who complain about diversity in poses and body types. My life-drawing experience was that I was so happy when models showed up with poses and body types aside from the most common we saw.
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:34 AM on December 19, 2024 [5 favorites]