“I love the abstract, delicate, profound, vague, voluptuously wordless sensation of living ecstatically.” ~ Anaïs Nin
Shag Presents is pleased to announce a group exhibition currated by Peter Dudek and Monika Sosnowski. “JUICY – Contemporary Artists Explore Erotica,” will be on view from November 18, 2016 thru January 14, 2017 with an opening reception Friday, November 18th from 6 -9 pm.
The exhibition will feature work by Jimbo Blachly, Crystal Chan, Alyssa E. Fanning, Annemarie Ho, Michael Lee, Emma Tapley and Monika Sosnowski. It will include painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. The artists were invited to specifically address themes of erotica using their diverse artistic sensibilities. For some this became an opportunity to tap into a subject matter normally not associated with their work, while for others it was an occasion to revisit older projects or current work from a new interpretive angle.
Erotica has an explicit intention to arouse, yet often manifests itself in a myriad of subtleties. Less can definitely be more. However, the subtle effect can also be derived by a mirage-like visual abundance. Titillating the senses, it entwines desire with satisfaction in an intimate play. With its suggestive nature it awakens ones innermost fantasies.
In Alyssa E. Fanningʼs new watercolors splashes of warm colors and throng of organic shapes fill the space in a seeming abstraction. From a distance the small works appear as flower petals, scraps of patterns and amphibious shapes windswept together. Upon closer look, a cornucopia of breasts spring up sashaying into a mind-blowing visual escapade.
Similar optical illusion dominates Michael Leeʼs two collages. Sensuous and rich in intoxicating patterns and each layered with one strong primary color, the images become an erotic Rorschach test. Using Mylar as base, Lee achieves a reflective quality, which plays with the roomʼs lights so what is pictured changes depending on where the viewer is standing. Like a latent image, the overall layered lusciousness remains etched in oneʼs memory.
In contrast Jimbo Blachlyʼs drawings have a dreamy airiness about them. Using a Japanese calligraphy brush and rice paper, Blachly decisively focuses on outlines of shapes, bodies and orifices. Evoking Shunga scrolls with a minimalist philosophy the drawings have a bodacious quality.
Though on the surface erotica inherently involves sexual themes, it is not exclusively about the physicality of sex. Rather it traverses themes of desire, love, identity, fetish, power and even spirituality. It has a malleability about it, which celebrates both desire and curiosity. In Emma Tapleyʼs installation of nude-figure drawings, we are invited to peek into a reverie. Erotica here emerges gradually. Zen-like it presents a story of wonder and ecstasy, which transcends time and space.
In comparison, Annamarie Hoʼs “Untitled Sex Toys,” suggest a shamanistic quality. Inspired by the Surrealist technique of using two disparate elements to create absurd objects, Ho combines motifs of sex toy and taxidermy. Her sculptural work explores a fusion of erotic, grotesque and funny rendering the surreal objects irresistibly fetching.
From Paleolithic cave paintings on, erotica has evolved into myriad of possibilities. Aside from its obvious purpose and expectations, it can liberate and connect. Throughout, erotica has the potential to delve deeper into a discovery of ones individuality, which in turn guides the self on the outside.
In Crystal Changʼs “I Am My Own Landscape” series, a journey of self-awareness and strength is strongly evident. In her
photographs and wistful watercolors erotica manifests as embrace of self through acknowledging the graceful intelligence of one's own body.
Monika Sosnowski presents fragments of a narrative, which intrigues with a voyeuristic mystery. Sosnowskiʼs photographs show intimate moments as if glimpsed through a window. Weʼre caught looking and waiting with desire for more to enfold.
Together, the seven artists display diverse and compelling work, each with a unique artistic approach to the subject matter of erotica. At turns fantastically naughty, humorous, revealing, in more or less ways explicit. The term ʻjuicyʼ is often used in contemporary art to connote particular work is exceptionally well done and visually exciting. Here the term is used as title for the exhibit and underscored in capital letters referencing both the quality of art and the erotica laden content. “JUICY” exhibit beckons the viewer into a realm of pleasure.
“JUICY – Contemporary Artists Explore Erotica,” will remain on view thru January 14th. The opening reception for the artists will be on Friday, November 18thfrom 6 – 9 pm and is open to the public at Shag Presents located at 108 Roebling Street @ North 6thStreet, Brooklyn, NY 11211. For further information please check out weloveshag.com