Once upon a time, gamy scenes were all the rage in the art world (think: “Aristotle’s Masterpiece”, an 18th-century sex manual and Hogarth’s “Before And After”).
Slowly, nudes in art became more tasteful (usually) and its graphic details were taken over by pornography. This line between art and porn, however, is about to get blurry.
From September 21 to November 23, Maccarone gallery in Los Angeles has partnered with Pornhub to present an exhibition called “The Pleasure Principle”.
Art dealer, Michele Maccarone has made collecting cool and art fun again by presenting challenging and sometimes incomprehensible contemporary art of Bjarne Melgaard (Norway’s most important artist) and Jim Carrey (Hollywood actor) to name a few.
“There’s a way you’re supposed to behave in the art world – represent an artist, go to art fairs – but [art] should be anything”, said Maccarone.
Maccarone’s Partnership With Pornhub
Pornhub had an annual visitor base of 33.5 billion last year with over 120 million views every day. Corey Price, Vice President of Pornhub, said in an interview that in an attempt to move the brand in “different, diverse directions”, they have been reaching out and are trying different things for quite a while now.
“But we don’t just randomly sponsor art things—we want it to be part of the conversation of sex and sexuality in the art space,” said Price in an interview with Bloomberg.
When the company was put in touch with Maccarone, they put forth the idea of an exhibition “highlighting pleasure and sexuality”.
“Almost immediately we were on the same page about what we were trying to achieve,” he said.
Also Read: SexED: Introducing Virtual Reality Porn!
A Pro-Female Show?
For a porn-site, sponsoring an exhibition of radical ideas, underlining pleasure and sexuality in art is pretty easy. But, from the gallery’s perspective, the math behind collaborating with a porn-site is complex, since questions about misogyny and exploitation are likely to be raised.
Maccarone said, “I’m interested in reclaiming this history of sexuality, specifically female sexuality. It’s something I’m really passionate about.”
She emphasized that “pro-sex, pro-female show is directly in keeping with her gallery’s programming, which hosted feminist art exhibitions in 2016 and as recently as last year.”
To solve this quandary, Pornhub and Maccarone came to an agreement wherein she would choose about 50 pieces of art and Pornhub would fund the show’s production and installation with minimal interference.
“There are a couple of artists where the production and installation is really expensive. I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own”, she said. Thus, the philanthropic contribution from the company is very helpful.
As for potential criticism, Maccarone said: “I honestly don’t care.”
To Buy Or Not To Buy
Maccarone has said that there are some pieces that come with a price tag, some that can be loaned and some that are not for sale.
There is a range of collections: vintage photos of Bunny Yeager (pinup model) costing $500, collage by Kathe Burkhart for about $80,000 and vintage photographs of Bettie Page (known as the queen of pinups) that aren’t for sale.
Maccarone hopes that the show would attract a huge audience and in order to make sure that there are interactive works, she will have artists on the premises, including Karen Finley’s “Sext Me if You Can,” an act in which the audience spends 10 minutes sexting Finley, the elements of which she then turns into art.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Bloomberg, South China Morning Post + more
Find the author on Twitter: yuksxo
Other Recommendations:
There’s A Degree For Those Hoping To Pursue A Career As An Influencer
