Friday, November 30, 2007

Hockey goes nude

I'd have to think it'd be awful weird to see a 7 ft. tall portrait of yourself completely naked, especially considering that you never posed naked in front of an artist.

But that's exactly what's going on right now for two former Boston Bruin greats, Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson.

Artist Kurt Kauper, who loved the Bruins growing up, currently has an exhibition going on at the Deitch Projects gallery in New York entitled, "Everybody Knew That Canadians Were The Best Hockey Players."

Anyway, as I said before, Orr and Sanderson never posed for Kauper. The artist used images from hockey trading cards and photographs to create the nude paintings. And all but one of the nude paintings has been sold.

Kauper, who has done a number of nude portraits, including some of Cary Grant, has been surprised by the reactions of some people to him and his work.

"People didn't really ask the question so much as assume that I'm gay." Kauper is straight. He lives in New York with his wife, photographer Annelizabeth Wells, and their two children.

Sanderson has no problem with the paintings.

"I just hope he's a good artist," he said.

Orr, however, hasn't said anything about the paintings. And former Bruin Brad Park, who played briefly alongside Sanderson and Orr and looked at the works online, said he "would not walk across the street to view this art."

Anyway, I think the moral of the story here is this: If you don't want to be painted nude, then it's probably best not be a public figure. So in other words, hockey players should feel pretty safe at this point.

HT: Boston.com

-WCK

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