I just don't see why nudity is an art.

I don't know, maybe it's an art because some people consider the bare body more difficult to draw than a clothed one... I mean, it can't because we are perverts. Pssh. That's not true... Even in Star Trek The Next Generation, we see Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise painting a naked woman. I mean, Picard is one of the most serious, non-perverted fictional characters I have ever known! If he is doing it then it's not possible for it to be wrong. There must be some art to it...

I guess it depends on how the artist presents the naked body. If it is presented in a vulgar, distasteful sort of way, then I do agree that they are using art as a facade for perversion. However, if it is done right, as many paintings, sculptures, and photographs are, it can be quite beautiful. The human body is an intricate art,I think, and should be appreciated as such.

It's the same old story about cause and effect. The inspiration source is inspiring the artist. He/ she needs to express herself into creating an art form. And the final result is a painting, a sculpture, a motion picture, a photography or a human being. The creative resource within is expressing itself to the world using the artist as a tool of creation. And sometimes the inspiration source is nature, sometimes is a building, sometimes some fruits and sometimes a naked human body. It is not so important the form we are looking at. It is more important the feeling we get when we are looking at it. And if our mind will keep the silence, we will just 'feel', as simple as that, if what we see is art or an excuse for exhibitionists, as you said. Or let me put it another way. The biggest artist of all times is mother nature, I hope you agree with me. Or call it God, Creator, Allah or whatever. Every single element of nature is a piece of art. So, consequently humans are pieces of art. And they don't come up on this world with clothes. No matter how much they tried it simply didn't happened. So why should we be afraid or ashamed of the naked human body? Our creator, the nature has no problem whatsoever with it, so why should we?