May 24th, 2009 at 8:30 am

GEO-ANATOMY

Laurent Badessi is enamored with the torso. When he shows a face, it’s accessorized with a cabbage leaf or an obscene sea cucumber — something to obscure its expressiveness. The viewer is forced instead to find meaning in the — excuse my art-speak — texture of shoulder blades, veins, nipples, pores and bumps. We can change our facial expression, but as Ms. b. noted, our backs and our nipples are not ours to control. They belong to biology, like rocks belong to the beach.—Lisa Carver

laurentbadessi p5 GEO ANATOMY