Chile's Man of the Year - Front Page - Spencer Tunick by La Tercera - Brief Article

Art in America, March, 2003

New York photographer Spencer Tunick was recently named Chile's 2002 Man of the Year by the Chilean national newspaper La Tercera. The prestigious accolade is usually reserved for political or business leaders and the like. Tunick became a media celebrity in Chile last June while visiting the nation's capital, Santiago, in conjunction with a traveling museum exhibition marking the 25th anniversary of the Sao Paulo Bienal.

During his stay, Tunick organized a June 30 photo shoot titled Chile 1 (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo), part of his "Nude Adrift" series, that called for participants to disrobe in Forestal Park, adjacent to the presidential palace. Surprising many, including the artist, the action drew some 4,500 enthusiastic participants who posed nude for the camera. Riding a wave of free speech and expression that has swept the country since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship, many Chileans saw Tunick's work as symbolizing a new beginning for Chile. The phenomenal success of the event, however, shocked many others. Even before the shoot took place, a team of lawyers had tried to prevent it and a crowd of 400 protesters gathered outside the artist's hotel room to chant "Tunick is immoral!" TV and newspaper images of the event sparked outrage throughout the country. In the end, however, Tunick provoked a broad debate about personal freedoms and emerged as something of a hero in the process.