As a kid, I was embarrassed to walk through The Art Institute of Chicago.
Because you couldn't turn a corner without a fat naked lady painting or sculpture jumping out at you.
And I remember my teacher saying something about artistic merit, and our evolving perceptions of beauty - and I simply rationalized this as yet another thing I didn't really understand.
But just last week, I learned an artist has decided to re-create the famous Venus de Milo statue (a topless and armless depiction of the Greek goddess Aphrodite), by updating it to our modern-day perceptions of beauty.
Because it turns out, that's what the Venus de Milo was originally designed to be. In fact, it turns out that's what ALL of these naked paintings and sculptures were intended to be.
Not creepy, fat "realistic" depictions of women. But incredibly sexualized depictions of the female form.
So, now I'm not sure why it's art and not pornography?
