Lena Dunham’s Dad Loves Naked Girls (It’s Not What You Think)

Another set of Girls made its seasonal debut this week, and these ladies bare more across nine canvases than Hannah Horvath can in a 30-minute time slot. And, who might be the artist behind this provocative collection, featuring nudes lounging amidst foresty terrain? None other than New York-based artist Carroll Dunham, a.k.a. Lena’s dad. (We’re guessing an inclination toward nudity runs in the family.)

But, older Dunham’s damsels are much more earthy and wild than any member of our new favorite quartet (even Jessa, with her new configuration of corn rows). The women in the paintings (on view now at Gladstone Gallery) don’t even really resemble human beings at all: Staunch, cartoonish white bodies are depicted in bold and suggestive poses—bending over, stuck in quicksand, plucking flowers, diving—in brightly colored pastoral landscapes.

This kind of risqué artistry is no new endeavor for Dunham. In fact, much of his oeuvre involves the subject of naked women in nature. He last showed his work — a series of nudes pinned up against trees and cactus fields — at a one-man show in 2010 at Blum & Poe Gallery in Los Angeles. If you can’t make it to the NYC exhibition, fear not: It will be accompanied by a catalogue, Bathers Trees Carroll Dunham, with Dunham’s full collection of paintings dating back to 2009.