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Friday, May 1, 2026
5-8PM
Look Me in the Eyes by Tish and S. Bean Kearns is a figurative painting exhibition that confronts purity culture, nudity, and body politics asking a direct question: why does the body make us uncomfortable, and who taught us that it should?
Being naked is not inherently sexual. It never was. Nudity is comfort, power, and vulnerable. The problem is not the body it’s how we’ve been taught to see and conceal it.
Naked bodies, especially feminine bodies have been sexualized across cultures and throughout history. Yet nudity itself is natural; every other animal exists without clothing, without shame, without the weight of moral judgment placed on their bodies. So why has our own natural state been reframed as something sexual, something wrong, or even something dirty?
Part of this comes from the historical influence of religion and by that virtue the legacy of purity culture. This has shaped how bodies are perceived and controlled. These frameworks have often equated modesty with morality and positioned the body as something to be covered, disciplined, or even feared. Over time, this rhetoric has extended beyond religion into broader society, embedding shame where there should be ease and self-acceptance.
This is where purity culture and rape culture quietly overlap through shame, silence, and control. These things combined within society trains us to monitor bodies instead of questioning the systems that police them. They blur conversations about consent by shifting responsibility onto the vulnerable and rewarding silence with a false sense of safety. What was she wearing should never be the question, humans should be able to be naked and comfortable with one another or at the least safe with one another.
So look. Look at these naked bodies, pay attention to what you feel, and question what nudity means to you.
These figures exist behind sheer curtains partially hidden and partially revealed. The barrier is not just visual, but cultural. Viewers must physically move the curtain to see the work, therefore turning the act of looking into a choice. Not passive. Not accidental. Intentional. Will you confront your discomfort or will you look the other way on the topic of body politics?
So, Look Me in the Eyes.
Friday, May 1, 2026
5-8PM
Look Me in the Eyes by Tish and S. Bean Kearns is a figurative painting exhibition that confronts purity culture, nudity, and body politics asking a direct question: why does the body make us uncomfortable, and who taught us that it should?
Being naked is not inherently sexual. It never was. Nudity is comfort, power, and vulnerable. The problem is not the body it’s how we’ve been taught to see and conceal it.
Naked bodies, especially feminine bodies have been sexualized across cultures and throughout history. Yet nudity itself is natural; every other animal exists without clothing, without shame, without the weight of moral judgment placed on their bodies. So why has our own natural state been reframed as something sexual, something wrong, or even something dirty?
Part of this comes from the historical influence of religion and by that virtue the legacy of purity culture. This has shaped how bodies are perceived and controlled. These frameworks have often equated modesty with morality and positioned the body as something to be covered, disciplined, or even feared. Over time, this rhetoric has extended beyond religion into broader society, embedding shame where there should be ease and self-acceptance.
This is where purity culture and rape culture quietly overlap through shame, silence, and control. These things combined within society trains us to monitor bodies instead of questioning the systems that police them. They blur conversations about consent by shifting responsibility onto the vulnerable and rewarding silence with a false sense of safety. What was she wearing should never be the question, humans should be able to be naked and comfortable with one another or at the least safe with one another.
So look. Look at these naked bodies, pay attention to what you feel, and question what nudity means to you.
These figures exist behind sheer curtains partially hidden and partially revealed. The barrier is not just visual, but cultural. Viewers must physically move the curtain to see the work, therefore turning the act of looking into a choice. Not passive. Not accidental. Intentional. Will you confront your discomfort or will you look the other way on the topic of body politics?
So, Look Me in the Eyes.