review
by Stressmiss
The first phenomenon that struck me when approaching the second annual Seattle Erotic Art Festival (SEAF), a locally produced and juried exhibition held at Consolidated Works the weekend of January 30 through February 1, 2004, was that standing out in the cold, down the street and around the block were literally hundreds of people! I have seen these kinds of lines for events in New York City or Los Angeles, but Seattle? Nah! We're too laid back to get all dressed up in slinky clothes and wait in line for an hour in 35-degree weather!
Unlike the hip, designer-clad crowds in most metro areas, Seattleites will wear jeans and Birkenstocks to the opera. But here, a miraculous effort was obvious in the provocatively costumed and creatively undressed hotties of every size, shape, gender variation and color. The live human art was incredible, sweet sexy eye candy, a veritable feast for the senses.
Luckily, as a member of the press, I didn't have to wait in that line!
I am a pagan, a witch and a sex-positive advocate. I worship the human body and sexuality in all of its forms. According to Annie Sprinkle, who invented the term, I am also a "pleasure activist," so to me there is almost nothing more divine than sex. This show was certainly spiritual for me... you could say that being overwhelmed with such a huge amount of erotic art was a religious experience! "Bless me, o Horned One, bless me, sensual Goddess, with all of the pleasures of your worship!"
The 2003 festival was a huge success, especially for a virgin venture. It attracted and enchanted over 2000 attendees and featured over 100 artists from around the world. This year was an even bigger draw, with close to 200 artists from 44 states and from 10 countries represented, artists of all styles and genres interpreting the theme "What is Erotic?"
The 2004 festival included an expansive exhibition of almost 500 pieces of erotic art, interactive installations, a gallery store for small works and prints, an opportunity to meet the artists and some special programs, including a film series by Sex on Screen, a live and a silent auction, art tours and live burlesque by BurningHearts Burlesque.
With the addition of this event, Seattle is rapidly becoming a main architect of sex-positive culture in the United States. Seattle was the origin of www.sexuality.org, the largest and most comprehensive sexual-education Web site in the world, which one of my own coven members created. He, Allena and others went on to found the Sex-Positive Community Center, a rich template from which other cities around the United States can mold their own sex-positive society. Sex-positive culture may be in its infancy, but with the increase in attendance at events such as this -- about 4000 people attended this year -- it's sure to grow up quickly.
It took me two days to take in all of SEAF, and it was a very sensual experience: soft-focus tits and ass, legs, cocks and pussies, sometimes intermingled; symbolic, surrealist and impressionistic paintings, not to mention larger-than-life realist oils; sexy sculpture, mixed media with moxie and winsome watercolor; harshly lit, stark digital fetish photos; and film prints of nudes galore in every style.
Some of my favorite artists were represented in the Art@Large exhibition. The amazing Annie Sprinkle contributed both photographs and "breast print" paintings. I always enjoy Charles Gatewood's characteristic underground images; I am haunted by John John Jesse's incredible dark modern or "gothic" multimedia drawings; and I fancy Barbara Nitke's intimate and emotional black and white portraiture -- all found in Art@Large.
The main exhibit also featured a number of brilliant artists. Gail LaForest presented some of the most exquisite and erotic flower photos I have ever seen. Laurie Hemingway gave us delightful and playful erotic "Etch-A-Sketch" art, and Doug from Hypnox Photography wonderfully dark, bloody photos. Hypnox was the featured photographer in the Valar Project's Book of Erotic Fiction, recently released and selling like the proverbial hotcakes, or is that cupcakes?
I coveted the hauntingly beautiful bodyscape prints by Jim Duvall, and I am fond of the passionate but whimsical squiggle art by rachel bachman. I have a good start on an erotic art collection now that I have a couple of bachman's paintings in my home, along with a John John Jesse and my take from this year: a piece by Elizabeth Andrade entitled "No Shame," a digital photo by Rachel Sink titled "Bondage," an untitled mixed-media piece by Malia Macheel and a photographic print by Barbara Nitke that I received after the exhibition from friends.
Of the live performances, the only one besides the auctions I was able to attend was the burlesque, which was a pleasure both because, though uneven, the performances were sexy, funny and cute and because I was able to spare my tired feet for a time.
I was somewhat disappointed in the auction portions of the event. A number of the paintings and sculptures were slow to sell, and in the silent auction many of them went for pennies. In the live auction, I was disappointed that people didn't bid higher on a lot of pieces that I thought exquisite. At the same time, I was sad that some of the best work was way out of my price range. More than one piece was priced in the $20,000 range!
I was thrilled to see that both artists and collectors from around the world gathered in Seattle for this outstanding exhibit of erotic art. I am glad we're finally getting around to asking the question "What Is Erotic?" Maybe, just maybe there are some artists here in the Northwest that will help answer it.
The Wet Spot, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that fosters growth and development of sex-positive culture, was the founding sponsor of the festival. The Wet Spot (www.wetspot.org) maintains a safe and supportive membership-based community center that serves as a gathering place for a full range of sex-positive groups and offers informational resources, educational opportunities and events that serve to promote self-expression within a supportive community. The event was cosponsored by Art@Large: NYC, The Stranger, The Tablet, Janesguide, Utilikilts, Cole and Weber-Red Cell, Creative Entertainment and Design, Patrick Bear Salon, Gallery Frames, Amadeo Design and others.
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author