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Manuela Klerkx , Kunstagent, auteur & redacteur Gallery Viewer

Nudity, sex and politics in 10 artworks

"Le Monde à l'Envers" is the title of Patrick van Caekenbergh's solo exhibition at Zeno-X Gallery. The right title at the right time because indeed: the world is turned upside down.

For example, this morning I read that a teacher in Rotterdam had to go into hiding because of a cartoon that had been hanging in the classroom for five years; today, November 5, 2020, we still do not know (for sure) whether Biden or Trump will become the President of the United States, but we do know for sure that the Americans are divided amongst themselves to the bone; Covid is still among us, which means that museums and other cultural institutions have to close their doors (again), art fairs are still being cancelled and, more than ever before in peacetime, we are confined to our homes.

The world is turned upside down

The discussion about what is and is not allowed in art has also recently flared up at the macro and micro level. For example, the Philip Guston exhibition in Washington has been postponed due to the lack of black curators: “An exhibition including paintings featuring Ku Klux Klan figures cannot be curated by white curators alone,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in an interview with the Hyperallergic website. The decision to postpone the retrospective exhibition of the work of the American artist Philip Guston (1913-1980) until 2024 brought the museum to fierce criticism from the art world. “No exhibition about colour without curators of colour,” says Feldman *.

Recently, a shockwave went through the Netherlands following the article 'How an artist makes a career under persistent allegations of sexual assault and rape' (Lucette ter Borg, NRC, October 30, 2020) which showed that the Dutch art world shielded a well-known, seriously misbehaving Dutch artist.
On top of this police and judicial authorities systematically ignored reports of assault, rape and other physical and psychological abuse and intimidation. An account promptly appeared on Instagram where artists, gallery owners and teachers at the art academy are openly and anonymously accused of transgressive behaviour, either of a sexual nature or else. Without adversarial process.

An extremely hurtful but apparently necessary situation to turn the tide.

So let's start by listening to victims and taking them seriously and let's stop condoning or facilitating criminal behaviour by looking the other way. But please, let's not start snitch lines or publicly pillory people. And certainly not without an adversarial process.

Art is a great medium for denouncing abuses and discuss painful issues. Even if it is uncomfortable or confronting. As for now, let’s browse GalleryViewer's wide range of art, looking for works in which nude, sex and politics play a role, if not the leading role.

Alice Lucchinelli

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 10 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

I have written about Italian artist Alice Lucchinelli before. She grew up in an Italian town where, as a woman, you may not represent anything, but you almost have to go into hiding as a queer or gay person.
Alice: “With my practice, I seek to highlight queer issues, femininity, and cultural identity, while trying to make a change, even if small. Photography empowered me and freed me to become myself, even if it is only in a single image.” Art as a means to liberate one’s self and to offer others the opportunity to draw strength from it. Beautiful.

(Chrysalid Gallery)

'Good' kledingstukken (in samenwerking met Viktor & Rolf)

Lily van der Stokker

7 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 25 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 1 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

Artist Lilly van der Stokker and fashion designers Viktor & Rolf form a beautiful trio with these gender and discipline transcending garments. Although the dividing line between men's and women's clothing is becoming increasingly blurred, it is still taboo in many companies to appear as gentlemen in a flowery tie at the office and "peep-toes" are off limits to women. The outside, how you dress, in many cases says something about the inside. Like art, clothing is a means of communication, so the more individual and authentic the better, I’d say.

(Galerie van Gelder)

melanie bonajo

3 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 41 Oeuvres disponibles

11 Spectacles ᛫ 1 Points forts ᛫ 1 Recommandations

In her - often witty - work, Melanie Bonajo explores the 'vulva-identifying body' in connection with the question of how we “as sisters and guardians of our own future, can help and support each other within a safer sexual space,” through rituals of purification, intimacy, demystification and empowerment of female sexuality that go beyond the shame and guilt with which society conditions us.” She also underlines the importance of being "woke" in the sense of being aware of discriminatory and oppressive behavior in society.

(AKINCI)

Marc Bijl

4 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 8 Oeuvres disponibles

6 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 3 Recommandations

Marc Bijl makes short shrift of the superficial meaning of theories and symbols from (recent) history and politics. Using anarchist elements from the Punk and Gothic movement, he shows the subversive and destructive sides of society and the dominant ideas in his art. With "Burning Peace" (2004) he destroys the peace sign, symbolizing the 1960s ideal of "Love, Peace and Happiness". I understand what brought him to do is, but what will replace it?

(Upstream Gallery)

Anne-Lise Coste

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 56 Oeuvres disponibles

12 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 1 Recommandations

The dramatic and political title "The Suburbs Are on Fire" is typical for Anne-Lise Coste's work, which energetically and emotionally exposes social unrest, economic inequality and abuses. Using texts, graffiti, scribbles and Dadaist characters and situations, she shows the dark side of society where oppression, violence and abuse are the order of the day. Anne-Lise's art is characterized by a dark edge: in "Le beau coucher", for example, she breaks through the poetry of a sunset by painting it from the highway - the "Autoroute du Soleil"? A sunset at the crossroads between romance and cynicism.

(Ellen de Bruijne Projects)

Sheila Rock

1 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 43 Oeuvres disponibles

2 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

If you look at Sheila Rock’s photographs, you can't help but yearn for the "Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n Roll" of the 1970s and 1980s, but without the hard drugs and HIV/AIDS so to speak. Years in which the punk movement in particular broke with the conservatism and hypocrisy of previous generations and turned away from mainstream consumption and yuppie-culture. Yet, even then - or perhaps right then - abuse of power, transgressive behaviour and discrimination were commonplace. No one had heard of concepts such as "consent", "me too" and "white supremacy". Or rather, they choose to ignore it.

(ElliottHalls Gallery)

Sarah Maple

4 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 79 Oeuvres disponibles

6 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

As Shakespeare wrote: "In Times We Hate That Which We Often Fear". And that still applies, especially now, times in which we are increasingly guided by fear: fear of nudity, fear of sex, fear of immigrants, fear of Covid, fear of economic decline, etc. The step from fear to hate is a small one, as evidenced by the American elections. In a light-hearted way, Sarah Maple - who grew up as a Muslim - challenges us to examine traditional norms and values related to religion, identity, white privilege, sexual discrimination, etc.

(Koch X Bos Gallery)

Thierry Oussou

0 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 46 Oeuvres disponibles

12 Spectacles ᛫ 4 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations

Born in Benin and living and working in Amsterdam, Thierry Oussou refers in his artistic research, which consists of drawings and paintings, videos and installations, performances and objects, to "social archeology" or the relationship between contemporary art and ethnographic images and objects. He studies subjects such as authenticity, heritage and appropriation, particularly in relation to his country of origin, in order to gain a better insight into prevailing power relationships and structures. Oussou: “I have a desire to document the vanishing before it is completely gone. Forgetting and not being aware of your own history can be used as a tool of manipulation by politicians”.

(Lumen Travo)

Natasja Kensmil

3 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 18 Oeuvres disponibles

5 Spectacles ᛫ 0 Points forts ᛫ 2 Recommandations

In de kunst van Natasja Kensmil staan dieperliggende machtsverhoudingen en het geweld van historische gebeurtenissen centraal. In deze tekening ‘The Global Inquisition’, dat deel uitmaakt van de gelijknamige serie, staat de godsdiensttwist van de Spaanse Inquisitie (1478), een instituut dat de katholieke orthodoxie moest handhaven, centraal. Enerzijds celebreert ze op deze tekening de katholieke bokaal, als pronkstuk van macht, en anderzijds toont zij hem als symbool van een religieus instituut dat alles en iedereen aan zijn macht onderwierp of wilde onderwerpen. Ook vandaag de dag leven veel mensen, en met name vrouwen, gay mannen en vrouwen en andere minderheden in angst voor de ‘Spaanse Inquisitie’, in welke vorm dan ook.

(andriesse eyck galerie)