Peter van Stralen
Peter van Stralen's Odd Bodies is an extraordinary a collaboration between artist and models. These nudes and extraordinary poses combine power and grace, recalling both Bernini and Brancusi. Van Stralen's models and muses are dancers, athletes, to be sure, but also co-creators of a stunning collection of unique ideas and flawless executions. As the artist stresses, these are not just his images, but also "our" images.
"I’d like to think of myself as a kind of two-dimensional sculptor who loves these women. Not just because they can be beautiful and sexy, but also because they are strong, versatile, and basically a mystery to me I keep my images quite direct and simple. To me, less usually means more, which makes me a minimalist. As a minimalist, I try to eliminate any superfluous elements from my pictures in order to create a kind of clarity that enables the essence of the image to come forward, just as a sculptor removes any unnecessary parts of the rough stone while at the same time working with his material rather than against it."