Up Close and Personal : The 70 works in ‘Erotica ‘95’ include painting, drawing, sculpture and photography. Their content blends sexual innuendo with the beauty of human forms and a dose of humor.
SHERMAN OAKS — Erotic. There’s a word that catches people’s attention.
Recently, The Times’ Business section reported that the two young men in Northern California who created Yahoo, a list of 36,000 sites on the Internet’s World Wide Web, had to drop their erotica category soon after they listed it. The sites in that category were so deluged with interested individuals, that they kept crashing.
When the word “erotic†is used in conjunction with art, it will move even the most uninterested to stop and look or read an article. The word “minimalist†wouldn’t rouse their curiosity; “pop art†or even “impressionist†wouldn’t prevent them from turning the page.
The Orlando Gallery decided it was time to be up front about the erotic in art. It has organized “Erotica ‘95,†a show of almost 70 works by 29 artists. Many of the pieces were created for the exhibit.
“You have no idea how many artists I had to turn down for the show,†said gallery director Bob Gino. “I started with 18, then got to 29 and stopped there. I had no more space. I had artists calling a few days before the show opened who wanted to be in it.â€
Gino believes the artists’ enthusiasm for the subject reflects the public’s keen interest in it. But he also knows that many people prefer to keep it to themselves.
“We have a tendency to try and hide how we feel emotionally, to avoid telling another person about erotic thoughts,†Gino said. “Then when we see erotica, we’re embarrassed. Eroticism is a way of life. It exists. It’s in magazines and books. It’s in our minds and we deal with it every day. We should not be afraid of it.â€
Gino and his associate, Don Grant, also wanted to present the show in part as a response to the ongoing public quarrel over what is considered art and what is deemed pornography.
“I felt as though there’s so much controversy about eroticism and erotic art, it’s never appreciated for its content,†Gino said. “Erotica doesn’t necessarily mean sex.â€
He added that he wanted to show “as much diversity in the erotic concept as I could. I didn’t want just blatant sexual innuendo.â€
For those who like blatant sexual innuendo, there’s plenty of it in the mix of painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, assemblage and photography.
But mingling with the more obvious ideas of eroticism are images that convey an appreciation of the beauty of human forms, and a healthy dose of humor.
Don Lagerberg’s paintings elicit more humor than heat. “Pygmalion for Pinocchio†depicts a “wooden†image of a Marilyn Monroe-like pinup, based on an actual image of Monroe. In “Moon Over Hollywood’s†enchanting night scene, we see a curvaceous rear end rising up from the landscape behind the Hollywood scene.
Gino himself contributes his “Ken and Barbie Installation,†a funny, salacious view of the interactions among those dolls. Gino has added some “accessories†to the dolls that clearly don’t come in any Barbie or Ken set.
In more contemplative approaches, Norma Jean Squires used photographs she took of portions of her own body to make images and mixed-media pieces that celebrate the female.
The black-and-white photograph of “Noel 1--Los Angeles,†by Sergio Ramirez captures the striking symmetry of the man’s well-exercised upper torso.
Subtlety is at the core of Susan Santiago’s large oil on canvas “Black Coat.†It presents an attractive woman in a coat open just enough to reveal that she probably isn’t wearing anything underneath it. We don’t know if she is going someplace, or has already been there; we can’t tell how she feels.
One is drawn into the woman’s situation by the provocative ambiguity of the image.
It is “quiet, suggestive,†Santiago said, adding that it evolved out of her work with the figure and from a series of drawings of nudes.
Another of Santiago’s paintings is, to put it simply and politely, a more anatomically graphic portrayal of seduction between a man and woman.
“Every time the woman who cleans (my) house came downstairs while I was painting it, I would turn the painting around,†Santiago said. “I thought, ‘My God, what is she going to think of me?’ I’m a Catholic. I spent 12 years in Catholic school. I have the battle going on: sex and sin. Somehow they’re related. I was uncomfortable doing (this painting) because it wasn’t really me. Publicly, everybody is uncomfortable, but there are a lot of people who are into this.â€
“It surprised me what people think of as erotic,†said Lagerberg, adding that after seeing the show he would describe his paintings not as erotic but as just humorous.
He also said he felt “really confronted with our notions of typing and stereotyping.â€
“You must remember eroticism really began with Adam and Eve,†Gino said.
But, “eroticism is in your own mind,†his associate Grant said. “It is whatever you feel it is.â€
Susan Santiago’s “Black Coat,†Don Lagerberg’s “Pygmalion for Pinocchio†and “Noel 1†by Sergio Ramirez, below, are part of “Erotica ‘95†exhibit.
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WHERE AND WHEN
What: “Erotica ’95.â€
Location: Orlando Gallery, 14553 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Ends May 5.
Call: (818) 789-6012.
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