My Eyes Are Up Here

My Eyes Are Up Here
From the Lost Drawings Series by Peter Bogdanov
Graphite on sketch paper (early 1990s, figure drawing class)
You don’t need a face to make a point.
In “My Eyes Are Up Here,” Peter Bogdanov delivers a deadpan masterstroke of observational humor. The drawing, created during a live figure session in his early art school years, features a standing male nude—well-rendered, anatomical, centered. But the head? Cropped clean out of frame. All that’s left is the torso, hips, and unmistakably exposed male anatomy… right in the viewer’s direct line of sight.
And that’s the joke.
The title, “My Eyes Are Up Here,” arrives like a smirk—turning an academic figure study into a sly commentary on gaze, objectification, and how easily we miss the full picture when we’re staring at the obvious.
Bogdanov’s graphite work is confident and unpretentious. There’s no shock value, no exaggeration—just a well-observed form, presented plainly. But by omitting the head, he forces the viewer to confront their own assumptions. It’s a body drawn with skill, yes—but also with just enough self-awareness to raise an eyebrow back at the room.
The drawing was among many lost in the 2024 hurricanes that destroyed Bogdanov’s Florida archive. This scan remains—a perfectly preserved reminder that even in the most traditional classroom setting, Peter knew how to turn a figure study into a conversation.
To collect “My Eyes Are Up Here” is to enjoy the art of the well-placed punchline. It’s a reminder that the nude figure doesn’t just sit quietly under the artist’s gaze—it can answer back.