SEX – Vagina and Anus

After the “private” showing of Kara Walker’s “Sugar Baby” and its giant vulva, the public art doldrums has been disturbed by the mention of “vagina” and “butt”.  A couple weeks ago, Anish Kapoor was letting his mind wander and described his work to a French reporter – “the vagina of the queen coming into power.”  Through the use of the word “vagina”, Kapoor transformed his dull work of rusting steel and random boulders into 15 minutes of media attention worldwide.  Smart guy.

Paul McCarthy had more fun at the Place Vendôme in Paris last October.  Even though he has created “butt plug” sculptures since at least 2007, his “Tree” flew through the Paris approval process.  The community and professional reviewers “assumed” it was a pop art holiday tree in anticipation of the 2014 season.  The right wing political party in France was much more honest ( the curator must have known it was a butt plug ) and broadcast the actual artist meaning.  In the night, someone cut the tie-down cable on the 80 foot tall inflatable and McCarthy had the sculpture deflated and removed.  AND WHY NOT.  The purpose of exposing the museum curators as big chickens in front of the public reviewers and then the ensuing publicity had been accomplished.  Really no reason to have the boring sculpture on display.   His inflatable human shit in Hong Kong had at least some sculptural qualities for viewing in person.

Here we have the power of the artist’s word.  If critics and visitors had let their imaginations discover connections to body parts, then no big deal.  But if the artist publicly agrees or even states the connection him/herself, the controversy is guaranteed.

Here is the power of place.  The controversy will be as big as the group of people that really care about the location.  Versailles and central Paris are extremely valuable to the French, especially as public images of themselves to tourists everywhere.   The same works on an everyday hillside or industrial quarter would be ignored except by the neighbors.

I have seen this before in Times Square.  Sofia Maldonado painted a 100 foot mural of “nail girls” from her native Caribbean in a variety of ethnic features and skin tones.  Hips and breasts were covered in the thinnest of attire.  Middle-class, middle- aged African-American New Yorkers assaulted the Times Square Alliance for its removal.   As Maldonado responded with innocence, the community focused attention on the people that approved it.  In conversations with me ( the curator ), a few women told me that the issue was the location on 42nd Street.  If the mural had been in Harlem, then it would be OK.  A valuable location to tourists celebrating these “negative” images of young, black women.

Last year, I had a brief email exchange with Nicole Beck.  I asked her about “Amplifers”, her 2014 sculpture at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building at the University of Illinois Urbana.  She had not mentioned its resemblance to female reductive organs or womb.  On the CODAworx website, she writes that the shape was inspired by the “light pulse from sp3 hybrid orbitals in the valence band of a semi‐conductor” – which it clearly does. (see image)   But what can I do?  We have all been seeing this shape of the vagina and uterus since 7th grade sex ed class.  The changing light form in luminous dichroic glass give the work a “life” more consistent with biology than electronic – in my layman’s knowledge.

The absence of a valuable location on campus, the excuse of collaboration with the engineering staff and the artist’s words deflect the obvious reference to the human body.  A reference that might not permitted if completely acknowledged during the approval process.  A reference which improves the meaning and value of the work itself.

Or perhaps Nicole Beck is as clever as Paul McCarthy.  Illinois did legalize same sex marriage in 2014.  She is just waiting for everyone to get the message.