Contemporary Erotic Drawing

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism

Contemporary Erotic Drawing Details

Encompassing the subjects of sexuality and erotica, The Aldrich Contemporary Museum presents this catalogue from the Contemporary Erotic Drawing exhibition, featuring more than 35 artists. In describing the immediacy and intimacy of drawing, Joseph Beuys once stated, "Drawing is thinking," and indeed, for many artists, drawing is a highly personal and revealing process in which raw ideas are expressed, allowing spontaneous imagery or thoughts to emerge. And so, to examine the subject of eroticism and human sexuality, it seems appropriate to examine these 100 drawings. Many of the images seem to work against images in the media, and so define what is erotic and titallating in their own terms. This 204-page catalogue includes drawings in varyious media by artists such as Ida Applebroog, Cecily Brown, Leon Golub, Tracy Nakayama, Mark Dean Veca and Su-en Wong; features two essays by Sue Taylor and Wayne Koestenbaum; and biographical information on the artists.

Reviews

I like the drawings. Georgia Marsh and Danica Phelps offer sensitive sketches of couples coupled, Gina Magrid explores the boundary between clinical and erotic, Ruth Marten baffles, Scott Martin amuses, and Kim McCarty disturbs. Juan Gomez evokes something of complex plumbing and Popeye's Olive Oyl in his almost-legible connections. As a whole, the collection displays a high level of artistry. End notes add to the reader's knowledge of each artist, but a few essays at the start will remind some readers of why they avoid art commentary. The book as an art book disappoints me, though.As a book of drawings, it's beautifully designed, and I mean that in the least complimentary way. Each page is a jewel of layout and composition: light, airy, and infused with importance by its broad margins. Captions feature tiny, pale print that might not suit older eyes. My gripe, though, is that the book layout fails in its role as vehicle for the art. It pushes itself too much to the front, like a butler that intrudes into every family photo. This should have been about the art itself. Instead, layout squeezes the artworks into shrunken boxes, so small that crucial details become illegible (e.g. p.72, 44, 64, 76). Even when an image's details are called out, they sometimes take only postage stamp space in a near-blank page (p.36-7, 43). These tiny reproductions become especially frustrating when I see the original image's dimensions - 32x32", reproduced about 3x3", in a page over 8x11" (p.61).It galls me to say that Marshall McLuhan was right in this case. The medium is the message. The art should have been the message and is quite enjoyable, when it's legible. Mostly, though, it's a book about book design, and not a book about the subjects on its pages.-- wiredweirdFour stars for the art, one star for book design, and I'm rounding up to give it three stars.

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