0182 = jpeg - Lisa Moses

Gallery 1313 has been supporting emerging artists for twelve years. Although twelve years might not seem like a long time, it is enough time to have some sort of history. As part of Gallery 1313’s programme, curator Phil Anderson has put together a sex show that has been running for six years. This show went from being titled “High Libido” to “The Sex Show”. Coincidentally, February (2010) is also the month when the second Cadmium edition celebrates a similar subject. So here is a short interview with Phil Anderson from Gallery 1313 in which he offers insights into some relevant issues that are embodied in the “The Sex Show”.

EDISON OSORIO: Phil, the premise of the show suggests that you guys are having  fun with the theme of ‘sex’, which makes it sound naughty. How explicit does the show get?

PHIL ANDERSON: Pretty explicit, we have a warning on the door because we do have families that come to the gallery, and we don’t want them to bring the kids in and subject them to material that’s very adult-oriented, and it’s pretty broad-based.

EO: What are some of the most common media artist have submitted to address this subject?

PA: This year we have some sculptural pieces by Christian Waldo. He’s made these sculptural human figure buildings with little people walking around them, fairly explicit. With the little people walking around them, they seem like a McDonald’s. So there’s a bit of humour involved in that.

"The Eatery" - Christian Aldo

There’s also a female artist who employs dark eroticism. She did an image of a woman in a hot tub with a squid, a bizarre kind of approach. There’s also an OCAD artist who takes pornographic magazines and cuts out the images, and then she applies paint to them so they become very layered and textured.

Bathtime - Alison Thomson

Surprisingly, we haven’t gotten a lot of works in the way of video. I used to curate screenings, and sex-related videos are usually explorations of the human body, as opposed to the work of artists like Bruce Labruce, which is more explicit in content. Many people think of his work as being pornographic. I think the different kinds of attitudes towards artworks are interesting too. Some guy came into the gallery and was talking about ‘the dirty show’ as in “The Sex Show”, like sex is dirty. Sometimes those attitudes have a lot to do with gender.

EO: How does the meaning of a sex-related artworks change when it’s brought into a gallery?

PA: It’s particularly interesting to see a group show around the theme of sex because you see so many different approaches to it. It’s all very diverse. It’s almost like food. People have different tastes and attitudes towards food, and it’s almost the same with sex. They have different appetites and things that they like. So when you bring that all together in a space with so many different artists who have different approaches you get a variety of responses.

And there were some submissions that didn’t really fit the bill. Perhaps it has to do with where I’m coming from. A naked body doesn’t necessarily have a sexual connotation to it, for me. Perhaps somebody else finds that erotic, to him or her.

One time I had a submission by an artist, in which she had a group of faces of some guys. I tried to find where the sexual significance in that was. But there wasn’t really a statement that went with it to explain how she found them erotic or sexual.

There’s another artist, Paul P. who’s done work with faces. There’s a sort of obvious sensuality in their faces, so it’s interesting to see people’s take on what they find sexual or erotic.

EO: How does the audience interact with the works?

PA: It varies on the people. Some approach the work with a little bit of caution. Others find themselves intrigued. But for the most part, how they react to the show becomes more important than the work itself.

EO: Do they ever feel offended?

PA: I never get complaints. One time I had a guy complain that it wasn’t offensive enough. But I don’t know what he was expecting. When you put out that sign, you’re letting the audience know what they’re up against. These days, we see so many images in the media that have sexual connotations to them, and the boundaries are being pushed further and further, and so people come in expecting to see who knows what.

Years ago, Mercer Union was closed because some drawings by Eli Langer were deemed by the public as child pornography. “In 1993… 35 drawings and five paintings were removed from the gallery by the Morality Bureau of Toronto Police”. It was unfortunate too, because it’s hard to wash off this reputation that the artist gained.

“The Sex Show” runs from the 3^rd to the 14^th of February at 1313 Queen Street West.