August 2024 contains moments for me when I am suddenly in sync and accepted. People I respect are making arguments for what I believe in. Going out on a limb I would like to take it further and say that the human sexuality closet door has just opened a bit more.
Patric’s show “Liberated Forms” is helping us humans step out of that closet further. Signs of being in the closet are dolls without genitals, sexual codes of conduct that are damaging, an overwhelming majority of galleries and art groups that will not accept nudes (let alone sexual content).
This traditional misdirection about human sexuality (covering it with lies and putting it into the dark) has led to horrible things. The reasons are more to do with power issues (degrading) masking themselves as moral issues (uplifting). A lot of this is currently being dealt with on stage, in film, scientifically, and in books. Visual arts are still very repressed.
Pornography sites are fighting the battle to legally and profitably show something similar to human sexuality. A notable all-inclusive site and exception to the normal (except for photography) is NewGrounds.com which has a wonderful method of categorizing works that are shown, and people can then use the rating (E, T, M, or A) in searching for or avoiding work.
Patric observed this, took a bold step, decided to have a show, and asked for sexual work. Artists (from all over the country) have gratefully (at their own expense) sent him pieces that they love and had held onto but could not show. He didn't know this would happen, He invited 3 artists to participate because he was not sure what if anything would come from the open call.
Because most sexual work is not shown, there is an illusion that current quality sexual work does not exist. It does, artist will do art without the reward of exhibition or payment. They do less of it, of course, because they must turn to other means to put food on the table.
Patric also needed to overcome some of his misconceptions. After looking through my work and picking the ‘safer’ pieces, he told me that he later realized he in some sense censored. He schooled himself to leave behind that response when looking at other submissions being offered by other submitting artists. I used that as an excuse to latter slip in a wild and fun piece that he initially rejected. We'll see. Patric has very high standards and has a lot of good work to choose from…
Patric also realized he did not have the wall space to hang the show normally. He chose to go salon style, which is normally associated with lower quality shows. In this case, it is the only way to present without leaving far too many exceptional works out. Because of this flood, my number of pieces may be reduced as he hangs the show... we will see. No hard feelings, just joy. I also want to see the 'best show possible.'
To help the viewers of my work, I collaborated with a master framer Michelle Robinson of Ray Street Custom Framing to make unique frames custom for each painting. I told her to do as she saw fit, and that price was not an issue (ouch). I would just raise the price on each piece based on its frame. What a great collaboration this turned out to be... now if Patric will only keep them in. I don't currently have anywhere else to show or sell them… maybe OMA...
Article in The Word
My Interview (video)
