Luna Scales

2 may16 jun 2019

Bonniers Konsthall proudly presents up-and-coming artist Luna Scales and her most recent work, Physical Status Report. Scales was born in Denmark in 1992 and has been studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen since 2017.

About the artwork.

In Physical Status Report, artist Luna Scales appears naked, lying on her side with her head resting in her hand. Her pose attests to a thousand years of art history, in which women have been portrayed in this position since time immemorial. Text taken from the Danish authority’s statement on the artist’s physical condition, in which her body is described and evaluated, appears beneath the image. Scales was born with a muscle disease, which involves her muscles becoming easily overstrained. The authority’s report poses questions pertaining to Scales’ capabilities – the descriptions and assessments of her body deal with what it can and cannot do: Can she work? Does Scales require assistance?

The history behind.

The nude figure possesses a category of its own within the field of art history, primarily that of the female body representing an object. Whether or not the artwork is of a sexual nature has more to do with the cravings of the viewer – not the model. The nude model exists for the spectator’s needs and desires, to be surveyed and appraised. Scales’ work contains an additional dimension. Specifically, that even an ‘abnormal’ body should be inspected, measured and classified. Physical Status Report incorporates questions of body, capacity and of functional variations as a political issue. How is a body supposed to look? How is a body supposed to move? Is there a value connected to its appearance and capacity to work?