The Naked Truth: Evan Oberholster’s Unvarnished Nudes

Ordinary, unpretentious, yet quietly provocative — Evan Oberholster’s nude paintings do not shout for attention. Instead, they draw the viewer in with an unexpected kind of intimacy: one built on recognition, honesty, and presence. These are not anonymous or abstract bodies; they are lived-in, local, and emotionally legible.

Oberholster's paintings strip away romanticisation and pretension to present bodies as they truly are. There are no dramatic poses, no idealised musculature or mythological references. What remains are bodies in their unembellished form — culturally rooted, and undeniably human. Through everyday gestures and familiar settings, he challenges the viewer to see the nude not as an object, but as a subject — one still shaped by identity, context, and personal history.

This evocative series of nude oil paintings will be on view as part of the inaugural Open Studios Fish Hoek & Clovelly, running from 3–5 October 2025.

Don’t miss the chance to experience work that is at once subtle and challenging, intimate yet culturally resonant — paintings that speak not only to the body, but to the world it inhabits.

For more information, visit: www.openstudios.org.za