I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art last Friday and I was completely appalled by the exhibit, Sebastian, by Damien Hurst. At first glance of the open carcass I was horrified, but as I continued around the exhibit my emotions changed, each separate angle evoked a different emotion. The side angles drew out the beauty of this dead carcass, so eloquently preserved, his eyes, his disposition, and just the beauty of his body made me sad. From the back side he seemed to be a prisoner of art, the way in which he was restrained, made me angry. I don't think I have ever ran through so many different emotions in such a short span of time ever in my life before, I was even perspiring when we moved to the next exhibit. It was very exhilarating and exciting to me. I have never been touched by a piece of art as profoundly as this before. It has given me aspiration to find beauty in places and things I never imagined before to contain beauty. I never before linked beauty with death before Mr. Hurst exposed my mind to this message of his. I looked at some of his books in the bookstore of the museum and it gave me a great perspective on his work and what messages he prefers to send. It has definitely changed my perception of beauty!

Nature of Beauty

In order to really appreciate something beautiful we must also appreciate things we do not find attractive or easy on the eye. We must use our personal scale to balance the good, the bad, and the ugly. In order to differentiate between these terms, we must search deeper than what we see at first glance in order to uncover the beauty of things beneath the surface also. Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. One person may see things in a very different light than your do, we must always keep this in mind, I suppose!

Madonna, Mariah, and Marilyn

All of these women are famous for very different types of entertainment.

MADONNA is just an all around talent, she sings, acts, dances, choreographs, directs, writes, and let us not forget her great work in humanitarianism, she is just amazing to me in no matter what genre she is dabbling in or at what period of her life she is in she is simply sublime.

MARIAH CAREY is a great singer, her voice is astounding, I feel like an angel is singing to me when I listen to her her music. Mariah has one of the most extraordinary voices of all time, it transcends time even... I believe her music will stand through many future generations, she has acquired an Elvis status!

MARILYN MONROE was and still is one of the most profound examples of sheer beauty in our culture, she was also an iconic actress who resisted the egotistical ideas of men in her era. In this I mean she would not adhere to the typical roles of what men in her era thought a woman should do or be. She broke the barriers of the sheltered, subservient housewife, that is for sure!

Nature of Beauty - Madonna & Marilyn

These are examples of my idea of beautiful women in and of the 20th Century. They are the type of images that pop into my mind when I ponder - "Nature of Beauty?"

These women all represent iconic status from different generations and come together all encompassing the nature of beauty!