Hooked on More Than Sex
by Zoe Strimpel
Wed, 31 Oct 2007 at 1:02 AM
updated Wed, 31 Oct 2007 at 1:06 AM
These days in London there are lines around the block (or the museum lobby) for almost all of the major exhibits. Certainly Millais at the Tate and the Terracotta Army at the British Museum are deserving of their culturally conscientious droves. But one show that is without doubt drawing visitors on pure, honest gawp-value alone is "Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now," at the Barbican.
The title barely hints at the onslaught of genitalia within. Those under 18 are not admitted — this is definitely an R-rated exhibit. But there is a far greater idea here than just "sex sells." With great depth as well as breadth (our visit felt rushed at nearly 3 hours), sex in art is laid out in an extraordinary range of forms. There are beautiful Roman statues of Satyr and Nymph engaged in a variety of embraces; a beautiful marble hermaphrodite; dusky-hued Classical wall paintings of lovemaking, and pots, dishes, and masks with the raunchiest of frolics depicted. Fragonard and Boucher have a bawdy outing here too — plenty of bedclothes where they aren't meant to be and, from Boucher, "Leda and the Swan," with Jupiter as a swan, seducing Leda.
But when it comes to sexual imagination, the surprising winners were hands-down the Japanese of the 18th century. Murmurs of shock greeted (among many others) the woodblock print depicting an octopus ravenously having intercourse with a woman.
From a more recent time are the expected Mapplethorpes, pieces from Jeff Koons's "Made in Heaven" series, Kinsey photos, and "Requiem," a film by KR Buxey that focuses on her own face as an unseen man brings her to orgasm.
This, of course, is why the crowds are piling in. It is amusing to observe the awkward comportment of visitors, many of whom look very respectable. A good few were suit-clad (the Barbican is in the heart of the City). But for all the blushing and dissembling comments ("Oh look, she's got a hat on"), people were stuck like glue. Sure, sex sells. But this crowd was hooked on more than sex alone. The masterstroke here was to cater to the mind as much as the eye — the solid historical narrative etched in pretty font on the walls kept us thinking hard throughout. After all, it's hard to shock people these days with images alone.
"Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now": http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=5625
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