The Greeks depicted the Graces as 3 women and then, 1300 or so year later during the Renaissance, Italians like Botticelli returned to those icons and interpreted them in their own way. Artists reenvisioned these figures so many times - Raphael, Rubens (his Graces is my favorite), 20th c masters like Picasso, Delaunay, Arp, Man Ray and contemporary artists like Sally Mann all have returned to the image of three female bathers. This portrayal is not about beauty (although the men in my film are beautiful) it’s a proposition to oneself of how to take the values of the original - 3 idealized figures - and
re-envision it in a contemporary context, in a personal way. This is layered with the USA Information Service propaganda which adds a sense of irreverence and levity while also touching on the idea of temporal truth.
