Antebellum Gallery presents THE DOG & PONY SHOW

Antebellum Gallery presents THE DOG & PONY SHOW

by | Jul 29, 2015 | Art

An erotic art exhibit featuring the work of ten artists – Michael Manning, Jon Macy, Dorian Katz, Midori, Brooke Kent, Rachel May, Rick Castro, Victor Lightworship, Shun Yamaguchi, and Idella Spann – exploring the theme of human pet play – specifically canine and equine – in a variety of mediums.

An opening reception will take place from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Saturday, August 1st. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door and no host bar. Costumes and fetish wear, especially of the dog and pony variety, are welcome but not mandatory.This is an adults only event. No minors will be admitted.

Originating from the late-19th century, the term “dog & pony show” refers to the small travelling circuses whose main act would consist of performing dogs and ponies. Primarily used in the pejorative sense when referring to an over-staged over-hyped event, the phrase also acknowledges the enduring power which animals hold over the popular imagination.

Human beings’ relationship with animals is long and complicated. In one hundred thousand years, we’ve gone from fearing and worshipping them to subjugating and domesticating them. They are our companions, our slaves, our art objects, and our food. Our modern day fascination with dogs and horses in particular transcends their practical value as hunters, defenders or means of transportation. We breed and train them, sublimating their sexuality to serve our aesthetic needs, fetishising those characteristics which we find most admirable in them – strength, speed, beauty, loyalty – and sometimes even seeking to embody and emulate those qualities.

If BDSM is a space in which people’s fantasies can be explored in depth, the dynamic between owner and human pet can be viewed as one of the most extreme expressions of a dominant/submissive relationship. A situation in which a rational being is reduced to a fetishised animalistic state – helpless in a sense, but also protected and free to operate on a totally physical level without any inhibitions – can be a powerful and inspiring one.

The work of the artists of the Dog & Pony Show celebrates that ultimate servitude and provides a brief glimpse into a fetishistic world still populated by centaurs, satyrs, fox spirits, the Egyptian pantheon of animal-headed deities, and other mythological beings who blur the line between human and beast and continue to inspire our imagination and sensual longings.

Facebook event link: THE DOG & PONY SHOW

Belle et la Bête illustrated by Nicole Claveloux

Belle et la Bête illustrated by Nicole Claveloux

by | Jan 2, 2015 | Art

 

The first time I stumbled across Nicole Claveloux’s work was at a children’s book illustrator’s exhibition! I was very drawn to her style, there was something mysterious about the subtle details that was suggesting an underlying darkness. I could not quite put my finger on it. Sure enough, upon further investigation, I discovered that she had illustrated an erotic version of French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s Belle et la Bête. Yay!

These are just a few that I found after much searching through The Google. They really are deliciously depraved.

I find it interesting that the French don’t seem to give a toss that a children’s book illustrator has also created some of the most delightfully perverted art bordering on taboo. I have a feeling some other countries might not be so accepting.

Visit the Official site of Nicole Claveloux

Paris Photo 2012

by | Nov 26, 2012 | Art

Have realised that I am addicted to art. I need a hit quite regularly, of really good, intense, well executed art and preferably of an erotic nature, and if I don’t get, it leads to a kind of despair. Happily, Paris Photo this year at the Grand Palais, was an art addict’s paradise and I walked through the exhibition feeling quite dizzy, floating a little above cloud 9, and still felt the affect some days after. My companion Oscar David only added to this, with his consistently challenging commentary, and equally passionate attitude for the photography on display. We discovered a number of our favourite artists and some of those included: Giles Berquet‘s stylistic representations of women and their heavy, steady streams of piss, frozen in time with the use of the traditional gelatin silver process. Nice to see analog is gaining even more value as an artistic genre in the age of digital media.

Nobuyoshi Araki, of course was there, and represented by a large mural work, seemingly destroyed with random brightly coloured paint splashes, shapes and smudges – not ruining though, but adding textural and motional elements and creating the impression of a layered vivid stained glass window which one must peer through, to witness the typical Arakian themes of bound women.

(Section of) Kinbaku Shamaki, Japan 2006 © Araki

I discovered the work of the Viennese Actionists, from the mid 60s – 70s, which is a movement considered amongst the neo-avant gardists. Rudolf Schwarzkogler was a performance artist, staging scenes and events – actions – that were captured on film, and which were then printed/collaged/destroyed/reworked and exhibited. The final product as important as the process and sequence of events recorded. Indeed his art is both conceptual photography as well as performance art and has been considered an important cross-over point in which photography gained much credit as an art form also.  I’m less interested in what he was depicting in his actions rather more fascinated by the process and result. I will definitely be reading in depth the lovely catalogue they gave us.

TBC

Opie

Lynch

American contemporary and fashion photographer. Newton, Ritts.

Some other blogs about Paris Photo 2012

http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/events/2011/november/03/araki-scatters-petals-at-paris-photo/
http://lejournaldelaphotographie.com/archives/by_date/2012-11-18/9411/paris-photo-the-diary-of-carine-dolek
http://www.liberation.fr/culture/1101182-zoom-sur-paris-photo#s1

Cindy Sherman at Gagosian

by | Oct 9, 2012 | Art

http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/cindy-sherman–september-14-2012

My first experiments in photography were self portraiture; it simply seemed a natural place to start and it was something my art teacher encouraged for my final year art project. I never delved too deeply into my own psyche to figure out why I wanted to feature in my own photos.   At that point, It was all about learning how to use an (analog) camera; to shoot in black and white film, and develop the film and print in the darkroom. I am so glad I had the opportunity to explore manual photography, the darkroom really suited me and I miss it. Photography was something I could just do, no struggle to learn, no pressure, and I never questioned where I was going with it. My overly analytical nature only developed later… (more…)