"Beauties" showcases male form

Gerard Huber bridges the often-controversial gap between nudity and true artwork with his "Natural Beauties" collection, located in the University Gallery.

"The collection is resulted from a Faculty Development Leave integrating aspects of modernism and traditional realism," Gerard Huber, the artist and professor of art, said.

The program for Faculty Development Leave is designed to help professionals teaching at Texas A&M University-Commerce to develop, study, and research academic worthy topics to enhance the university. This process takes a significant amount of time and a limited number of distractions. Therefore, leave is granted with pay to benefit the professional and the college.

Huber's collection "Natural Beauties" is composed of 14 different pieces drawn in conte crayon (black and white) on charcoal paper, with a few pieces including Prismacolor for a limited touch of color.

"This is a fantastic exhibit," senior Morgan Corley said. "His use of black and white with the gentle mix of color make the collection what it is. Without it wouldn't have been the same."

Huber averaged a drawing a month over a 15-month period.

"Usually the last piece is the one you get caught up in." Huber said. "With this series I respond positively to all of them. Of course there are ones that are more engaging. Those being the ones that include the colored floral element along with the figure. They are a culmination of the pathway in the creative process. The entire process is an extension of another series I have been working on for the last 10 years called ‘Classical Figures,' where classic Greek figures are highlighted along with contemporary nude figures."

Since the event highlighted the nude male, that became the focus of some discussion.

"Some of the most amazing art work focuses on the body," senior political science major Heather Flores-Ricks said. "The focus is on the artwork and not the fact that the male figures are nude. It's art."