A new exhibit NSFW: Female Gaze at Museum of Sex co-curated by VICE Media’s Creators, features over 25 emerging female artists.
Museum of Sex has partnered with Vice to present a new exhibit, NSFW: Female Gaze, occupying a deconstructed upper floor of the museum. NSFW: Female Gaze, co-curated by VICE Media’s Creators, showcases over 25 emerging female artists from various disciplines dedicated to powerful feminine narratives. It presents 25 emerging female artists who are reimagining sex, pleasure, porn in the interest of exploring it without the eye of a male.
The world of porn and sex has always been conceived by men: an entire generation imagines sex from the direction of men. This show attempts to turn a critical eye on the whole arrangement by tapping artists who are actively putting a feminist spin on the timeless tradition of depicting the corporeal body.
The purpose of this exhibit is not to necessarily create visually “game-changing” art. Everyone has a body and it’s arguably the original canvas. NSFW is not necessarily about introducing new forms or reengagements with the body, but it’s about thinking about who’s creating the work and to what end. It’s about returning power to females, as people who are fully entitled to be the objectifiers and the deciding body of pleasure. A role typically held by men.
It’s not about removing the male form out of porn as some sort of rage-driven retaliation tactic for years of objectification of women. It’s art that might seem underwhelming only because, lo and behold, women get off on stuff too. And people- men and women- have this commonality. It’s an engaging show because it’s simple: girls can think about things in terms of sexuality and pleasure. And it might not be pretty.
The wonderment of why a girl would depict another female in a compromising position or arrangement (I’m talking about bondage, or in a filthy room, or as a hooker) should cease to be an “interesting thought.” And anyway, any further expounding on that thought quickly reveals just how misogynistic the whole concept of porn and pleasure really is: it’s hard to not look at the show with that prevailing lens: a condition trying to persuade viewing parties that women shouldn’t be in control of what is “hot” or “sexy” or “cool”, or even, more fatally, denying that woman can really think this way.
It seems ancient to the progressive mind, but this show draws special attention to body shapes, eclectic locations across a number of mediums, including sculpture and new media such as a glassed-in iPad on an infinite loop of a suggestive, but ultimately censored Instagram feed. There are re-imaginations of porn, involvements in photography. Some of it is staunch legacy directed predominately by men: images of a male masturbating, images of a male upside down in a skin-tight, fishnet outfit. Even embroidery and weaving make appearances in the encompassing show.
MUSEUM OF SEX
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