A major new photographic exhibition of male nudes by acclaimed celebrity
photographer Rankin launches on Friday March 9 - in support of the everyman
campaign to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.
Set to challenge taboos and attitudes to nudity, the Male Nudes
by Rankin exhibitionis on view to the public at the Proud Galleries
in London's Buckingham Street from March 10 to April 1.
Part of the proceeds from the exhibition and related book will go to
The Institute of Cancer Researchs everyman campaign - established
three years ago to address the urgent need for research into male cancers
and, crucially, to raise public awareness of testicular and prostate
cancer.
Clare Moynihan, medical sociologist at The Institute of Cancer Research,
comments: "The
everyman campaign has done a great deal to
help break down some of the taboos about male cancers but men are still
reluctant to discuss their health and seek medical advice. To have the
support of a photographer of Rankins calibre through this major exhibition,
is a tremendous boost to the campaigns ongoing efforts."
The exhibition is described as a 'second chapter' to Rankins high
profile 1999 exhibition of female Nudes in which subjects were
invited to provide their own suggestions of how they should be photographed.
The Male Nudes project raises the stakes and features a diverse
range of ideas including everything from a man dressed as Batman to
a nude self-portrait of the artist.
Says Rankin: "While the moral and aesthetic acceptability of a
naked female is almost unchallenged, the male form still languishes
in the double standards of Victorian England.
"This was one of the main reasons for the book and exhibitions
association with the everyman campaign which deals with these
exact problems in order to raise awareness of male cancers. It is a
testimony to how damaging such unchallenged hang-ups can be".
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For further information contact The Institute of Cancer Research
press office,
Tel: 0171 970 6030 or email:
Notes to Editors: