Bare celebrates the candid, contrived, natural, sexy, ironic, beautiful, and the fascinating in Australian portraiture that shows a bit of skin.

Including 59 portraits from the Gallery’s collection, Bare investigates elements of nakedness, with personalities including Dame Edna Everage, Germaine Greer, Megan Gale and Billy Slater.

Penelope Grist, exhibition Curator was fascinated to discover that almost all the Gallery’s portrait sitters in varying degrees of undress are Australia’s foremost creative achievers or elite sportspeople, the majority being men with their shirts off!

“Bare will be fun, whilst also interrogating our instinctive reactions to bareness,” said Penelope.

“Bareness is not as extreme as nakedness and not as refined as nudity. Bareness emphasises something about a subject’s identity as well as reflecting society. The decision to uncover part, or all, of the body in a portrait is at least as significant as a choice of clothing. Visitors to Bare will see these portraits in a completely new way.”

The Gallery has also created The Bare Game which visitors will be able to play online and in the gallery to discover their very own nude alter-ego from art history. You can discover your nude alter-ego at http://www.portrait.gov.au/content/bare-game.

Bare will be on display at The Glasshouse Regional Gallery until 25 June (Gallery is closed on Mondays, entry is free).

Bare: degrees of undress exhibition opening will be held on Friday 19 May 6pm. All are welcome and entry is free (drinks available for purchase at the Bar). Also opening is Anne Graham: Whispering and Rustling, the Susurrus of People, Places and Things and Wendy Stavrianos: Silent Rooms and Portal to Uncertain Shores. Bookings essential, please call 02 6581 8888 or visit www.glasshouse.org.au