Ariane Lopez-Huici's Photographs of Large Nude Women Challenge Venus of Willendorf Allusions

Ariane Lopez-Huici presented black and white photographs at the New York Studio School from December 6, 2007 to February 2, 2008. The exhibition featured four unclothed, large women, captured with pride and comfort, emerging from darkness into studio light. Lopez-Huici spent years building rapport with her models, resulting in images like "Triumph," where the women raise joined arms, their bodies folding like luminous sculpture. These works reference the Venus of Willendorf, a 30,000 B.C.E. fertility statue from Austria, often cited in contemporary art for its associations with primal femininity. Camille Paglia's book "Sexual Personae" discusses the figurine as embodying women's essential power rooted in nature. Artists such as Jeff Koons have used similar imagery in works like Vacuum Cleaners, Rabbit, and Puppy, linking commercial culture to primordial energy. Helmut Newton and Vanessa Beecroft have also drawn on the Venus of Willendorf's aura, applying it to fashion models. Lopez-Huici demystifies these myths by focusing on her subjects' humanity, preferring the natural world over symbolic signs. Her photographs, in contrast, make other artists' approaches appear coy. The review originally appeared in Gay City News on January 17, 2008.