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Museum of Sex opened their newest exhibition on Thursday, “The Art of Freedom” featuring works by the iconic surrealist artist Leonor Fini (1907-1996).
Referenced by many modern creatives such as Andy Warhol, Madonna, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, Fini’s work ultimately captivates an audience reaching further than fine art alone. Her influence can be felt today in her liberating concepts of sexuality. Even though she was far from the first to pioneer the concepts of an agender lifestyle- Fini worked with the intent to normalize the concept in a time that was less than forgiving.
Almost all of the artists working in her time were male and many including Max Ernst and Salvador Dali most notably were enamored with using the female figure as a inspiration. Fini strayed from this mindset and chose to depict androgyny instead. The work itself is unique in that she works with androgyny not in appearance, but rather in behavior. In many of her paintings and photographs, Fini juxtaposes her interpretation of what a female’s role is in an image, over a “male” figure. The works shown in Museum of Sex range from photographic prints, original works in oil on canvas, and personal artifacts of the artist.
