Customer Reviews

Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object

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Kathleen Rooney draws on her own experiences working as an artists' model, as well as on the stories of famous, notorious, and mysterious artists and models through the ages. Combining personal per­spective, historical anecdote, and witty prose, Rooney reveals that both the appeal of posing nude for artists and the appeal of drawing the naked figure lie in our deeply human responses to beauty, sex, love, and death.

As an actor who has performed naked on the theatre stage professionally and as a teacher of actors who has trained actors to work without clothing, this book immediately caught my attention because it is a subject that those who have worked in the nude rarely discuss publically. It is not that we are ashamed of what we do or have done but simply that to the non-artist to work without clothing or to be nude publically seems not an act of or a part of art but an act of, at best exhibitionism and, at worst pornography. Rooney lifts this veil and invites the public into experiencing what it feels to be naked publically and to be "the object of the gaze of a spectator" as well as to attempt to explain why she chose to do so.

While Rooney does go on at some length and possibly in too much depth for this type of book in balancing the life of "Phryne" -- a modeling sensation of ancient Greece -- with Madonna's nude photos for Lee Friedlander, and explains at length Greek versus Judeo-Christian approaches to nudity and highlights the difficulty people have distinguishing art modeling from prostitution ("There it is again," she notes, "this conflation of selling images of your body with actually selling your body itself."), thankfully, Rooney doesn't shy away from the personal. In fact, "Live Nude Girl" is best in these moments, when Rooney allows herself to be truly naked. Despite her intellectual swagger, she is moved to model by a desperate need to be seen not unlike the reason an actor takes the stage.

"The first thirty seconds of nudity are always the most jarring, charged for me and for those who are looking at me," she writes. "The disrobing is a gentle shock, a surprise, a kind of eyewash, and the instant is electrified, more vivid than those that preceded it and those that will come after. My nudity feels hyper-real, as if this person is the most three-dimensional object in space, vulnerable in her nakedness, but powerful in her command of the entire room's studious and uninterrupted attention."

It is this facing one's own self and that self's selfconsciousness that is, as any actor knows, one of the first steps towards a psychological enlightenment that, in the case of the actor, allows for the stripping away of the layers that prevent one from truly knowing who they are, and allows for the continual process of "becoming" someone else. But this too cannot take place until one is able to substitute truth for vanity, understand the distinction between ritualized eroticism for the erotic, and accept one's body for what it is.

Thus her initial obsession with looks in the book is not vanity but insecurity. Rooney is caught in a love-hate relationship with her body that she can't escape. Yet even as she uses modeling to prove her worth, she knows what she's doing. "Art modeling itself, in a way, is an adolescent pastime," she admits: "you are frozen forever in the process of becoming. You are never fully formed."

Though nude modeling (as Rooney rightly emphasizes) is decidedly not a form of sex work, this book will be shelved alongside a number of increasingly high-profile looks at, and firsthand accounts of working in, the sex industry, and that is unfortunate because throughout the book, Rooney presents the distinction between nakedness and nudity as the key to understanding the uniqueness of nude modeling, and by extension, the way we view bodies in general. "There's power that comes with nudity," she writes, "a naturalness, and an intimation of public acceptability, as opposed to nakedness, which is more personal instead of professional, and for me is best kept private." If not an original argument, it is a resonant one.

Live Nude Girl challenged me in ways that I haven't been challenged since high school literature classes. Rooney quotes ancient Greeks, references Leonardo da Vinci, sets her book to a soundtrack of indie rock bands, and shares her own thoughts on what it's like to be a nude model for artists. The book is much more about people's perceptions of beauty and of art than it is about Rooney's experience of being a model. Rooney seems to be trying to figure out why she wanted to be a model by writing the book, rather than share the actual experience with readers.

For example, there is a lot of talk on how Rooney wants to be perceived as "pretty" by the artists she poses for. And then she wonders why she wants them to see her as pretty. And why people, in general, want to be perceived as pretty. And then shares quotes from famed and esteemed philosophers and writers. It sometimes made the book difficult to read, as I would go into and out of quotes and deep thoughts and all the rest. But it was interesting, nonetheless.

I don't think this is a book one can read all at once- it may be slim, but it is dense. Each chapter can stand as an essay on its own, and in retrospect, I recommend reading the book in that manner so that you can better mull over the ideas Rooney presents. It's a thinking person's book- and it was fun to read it and be challenged by reading again, in ways I haven't been for so long.

I have been a model for drawing and painting classes since 1984, so I was really interested in reading a fellow model's point of view regarding the profession. It is amazing how many parallels there are between the author's experiences and my own, especially in areas that brought us to modeling in the first place. Of course, I'm male, and the author is female, so our experiences differed quite a bit in certain areas. I usually only work for classes or groups while the author expanded into working with individual artists.

The book is full of anecdotes about the history of art modeling, specific classroom incidents, feelings regarding posing for a new group or artist, and what it's like to drop the robe for the first time. Once I finished, I immediately contacted a fellow art model with whom I have worked before and told her that she really ought to read this book. I'll be loaning it to her the next time I see her.

And on a personal note, another interesting parallel: the book was published by the University of Arkansas Press. I began my modeling career at that very university back in November of 1984...

During Lady Gaga's entertaining Thanksgiving special she joked about her brief gig as a life model for singer and visual artist Tony Bennett.

Gaga recounted:

"I walked in and said, 'Well, Tony, here we are,' and I dropped my robe and I got into position. I felt shy and thought, 'It's Tony Bennett. Why am I naked?"

Lady Gaga had come face to face with what Kathleen Rooney describes as the "spine-tingling combination of power and vulnerability, submission and dominance" of nude modeling in her marvelous book "Live Nude Girl : My Life As An Object."
Rooney's book provides an introspective look at the history and challenges of art modeling from the model's point of view. Rooney's meditative prose leads us to a point of connection between muse and artist.
Why after centuries of images in charcoal, paint, stone and silver print do artists still feel the need to depict the human figure? For me it is our shared connection as sentient, sexual, and spiritual beings.
By taking the time to deeply look at and into another person we move closer to finding the ghost in the human machine. At our core we are all naked.

Highly Recommended.

"Live Nude Girl" is a beautifully written, witty exploration of a thoughtful mind. Kathleen Rooney is a master at making sublime observations about a career few people think about with any depth - artist's model - and tying her own artistic experiences into the long, colorful chronicle of models throughout history. She muses (pun intended!) wonderfully on the socio-psychological-cultural tensions inherent in the idea of being "nude" vs. being "naked", and she does all this with a light touch and a real feeling for her subject. Since the subject is, mainly, her, this should come as no surprise. :) Kathleen's book is amazing, and ought to be read by anyone who cares about art, artistic inspiration, and the ways in which sexuality and the body operate in today's society. A book as beautiful as its author!

I am a photograpaher who works extensively with nude models. I find that this book has given me insights into my work from the model's point of view and has made me a better photographer. I also have given copies of the book to a number of the models with whom I've worked to help them understand their profession better. It is a tremendous work which helps in a sorely misunderstood profession.

A fascinating memoir, this. I have to admit being intrigued about the life of a nude model. I've often thought that I'd make a good model myself--not that I'm particular interesting to look at, but rather that I'd be very good at occupying my mind while holding still for long stretches, which seems to be a very important quality for a nude model. And, of course, I have enough of an exhibitionist streak to be willing to take my clothes off for an art class. But, despite Ms. Rooney's repeated assurance that art classes want models of all shapes and sizes, she can't hide the fact that the thin and beautiful are the most desired, and I certainly don't fit into those categories. Ah, brief mourning for a career opportunity missed.

Being thin and attractive herself, Ms. Rooney has no problem establishing her career by doing nothing more than answering an ad from a local art class, and expanding her work from there. She takes us through her learning curve as a model: what is required during a session, how to prepare and how to make it through comfortably. That alone would have made for good reading, but she is willing to dig deeper.

She gives us bits of history as she tells her story, taking us to the Greek roots of modeling as well as the artist/model/mistress paradigm of Western art. This is almost a distraction, however, from the examination of the different relationships she has a model. Though she doesn't always address things directly, we learn a lot from the varied experiences she has with public art classes vs. private sessions, sculptors and painters vs. photographers, pros vs. amateurs, male artists vs. female artists, and so on. Clearly, there is no single expectation a model can have.

Fortunately, Ms. Rooney has had a wide career, has meditated on much of it and is willing to share what she has learned. I think she has been lucky in many ways, having had such a generally positive experience. But this is not a career one finds on the checklists one fills out for high school counselors and Ms. Rooney cannot hide the "forbidden" aspect of it. Even she refuses to tell her parents and friends what she does for a long time. On the other hand, though there is no reason for her to be embarrassed about modeling, its exclusion from what would be considered a normal, acceptable job is part of what makes her memoir worth reading. So is the fact that she has the writing skill to make the most of her experiences.

What this book isn't- an erotic novel where an art model seduces you.

What this book is- this book is a retelling of one art model's experiences in the art modeling field, along with a lot of comparisons to art throughout mankind's history. An art model's autobiography, at least little glimpses of it.

Something I learned from this book: Art models have to do something with all that time on the stand; this one chose to use some of that time to think deeply.

I've been always interested in psychology underneath people's actions, and this is the book I would've liked to read before I attended the art classes with nude models in Boston area years ago (before Rooney started modeling).

As Rooney wrote, "The first thirty seconds of nudity" was indeed"the most jarring, charge" for me. I thought I was embarrassed by my own embarrassment. Then I spent next 5 minutes trying to figure out why I had to feel that way. Was it my guilty feeling towards sexuality? Was it because of how I was raised? Was it because of my cultural background (I'm from an Asian country)? Do I secretly have desire to be nude in front of others? If so, why do I have that desire? It was all about me rather than the models. I didn't have courage to do so, but I really wanted to ask those questions to the models so that I could figure out myself.

Live Nude Girl was a great read. Rooney was honest and her writing was very thought provoking. However, I couldn't help feeling somewhat frustrated. Her explanations and conclusions were often too sophisticated and emotionally not convincing enough for me. Rooney wrote, "I pose because it can be erotically frustrating and fulfilling at the same time---the safest sex of all, I've heard it remarked", then later added "It's a strange compulsion, maybe even an addiction", I wanted Rooney to elaborate that addiction without neatly explaining it.

I have a feeling that I will find something more when I reread it.This book is definitely worth reading and rereading.

"Live Nude Girl" is a spirited and multi-faceted exploration of the author's experiences as an art model. Kathleen Rooney worked as an art model for most of her twenties, while developing her career as a writer and educator.

She divides her treatment of the subject into chapters covering major themes, including sexuality, death, and the difference between posing for painters and photographers. The story she is telling progresses through an interweaving of personal recollections, reflections on her recollections, citations from significant cultural critics, and historical anecdotes.

Ms. Rooney's talent with structure manages to make this kaleidoscopic approach work; and not just work - it is extremely readable (I burned through it in a couple of days). It's readable on its own merits, as a well-composed piece of writing. Does she take advantage of the titillating elements of her subject to keep the reader's interest? Absolutely.

But this plays into her theme as well - the exploration of the nature of the artist/model relationship, in which desire plays a part. I myself am a figurative painter, and have been working with models for many years. There is an enigmatic quality to the work of artists and models; because of its intensity and subject matter, it has too often been mistaken (including by artists and models themselves) for a sexual relationship. Ms. Rooney's investigation helps to clarify this relationship, and I am personally grateful for her long and honest introspection, the complexity of her insights, and her generosity in sharing herself and her thoughts.

She has not solved the riddle of artists and models; it remains an enigma. But her attacks on the problem help to define the edges of the enigma. Her writing establishes some basics - "this is true" and "this is not true" - as she circles around the mystery of the meaning and making of art.

This is clearly of interest to a readership of artists and models. Hopefully, its more general applicability to the human condition will help it to find a broader audience. The special case that Ms. Rooney treats is that of the process of figurative art. But the questions she raises are questions that go far beyond those boundaries: What is intimacy? Is it possible to be truly seen and to be accurately remembered? How well can we know one another? What is the significance of the vulnerability we embrace or reject in our relations with each other? What kinds of rewards can we expect to get from our grappling with mortality?

A final note: the history of figurative art is written almost exclusively in terms of the artists who made the works. I have long felt that this is an injustice to the models who sat for those works. Without the vitality and skill of the models, those paintings could not have been what they were. Perhaps they could have been something else, but in the end, they were not: the models made their imprint on the work as well. This is no mean thing, and it shouldn't be ignored. In writing her book, which both analyzes the idea of the model from the inside and conveys some of the shimmering captivation that a model can cast over a roomful of artists, Ms. Rooney helps to reclaim some of the artistic territory that rightfully belongs to models, and which they have long been popularly denied.