FFWD Weekly
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| Visual Arts by Mark Walton Exhibit Preview Usually when I interview someone about erotic art, they tend to keep our conversation on a more serious philosophical or esthetic level. However, when I chatted with Kathy Lynn Treybig, co-curator of an exhibit of women’s erotica at the Centre Gallery, the sexual puns and double entendre started flying as thick and fast as spermatozoa in a Fallopian tube. "I’m having a ball – er, so to speak," quips the gallery’s quick-witted, effusive literary co-ordinator. "Erotica has always had these connotations of pulsating penises and gaping vulvas. But I was delighted at how imaginative the work in this show is. There’s a lot of playfulness and humour. "The artists haven’t just reduced it to body parts or an objectification of sexuality; these women have introduced so many different layers of texture, colour, form and movement." Artists in the eight-woman show range in age from their early 20s to late 60s and include Pat Strakowski, who is well known for her papier-maché folk art sculptures. One of her contributions to this exhibit could best be described as the ultimate wedding cake topper. It features a primitively sculpted nude couple, with the male figure sporting a hard-on as he advances to embrace his bride-to-be. Although Treybig is primarily a poet – she’s one of half a dozen emerging and established poets performing at the gallery this weekend (Saturday, April 24) – she also assembled the small fanciful mobile suspended from the gallery’s ceiling. Indeed, she says she and fellow curator Yolanda Van Dyck had quite an adventure searching for items to place on her kitschy sculpture. At one point, the inquisitive pair spied a promising phallic shape in the window of a restaurant supply shop on Centre Street. Once they got inside, however, everything acquired a sexually charged connotation and they went "crazy," racing down the aisles, examining all of the cooking utensils in sight. Treybig secured a whisk, or "phallic Hindenburg," for her sculpture, while Van Dyck discovered two tea strainers that doubled as metal breast plates, and a large wooden pizza paddle. Needless to say, the Asian gentleman behind the counter was not amused – in fact, he was terrified. As well as displaying two sensuous, loosely daubed paintings of hands and buttocks, Van Dyck is also exhibiting the strangely humourous work Binky’s Been Bad. She explains that Binky refers to the perfect lover – the handsome sun-tanned tennis pro type – who turns out to be somewhat less than perfect. In the work, which also describes the dark side of relationships, Polaroid photos of a masked figure are attached to swatches of prairie grass and the infamous pizza paddle. Treybig points out that Van Dyck’s idiosyncratic artworks also reflect the diversity of women’s erotica. "Often erotica has been defined by a male perspective. We wanted to find out what women are really thinking, what they really feel. We also wanted to break away from female stereotypes such as Harlequin Romance novels – basically your typical rape fantasy. There’s been a lot of misunderstanding and misrepresentation of women in erotica. "Women may have come a long way – pardon the pun – but a paradox exists, because there is still this extreme conservative element and a tremendous amount of fear about the chaotic nature of Eros and everything going to hell in a handbasket." Treybig, who often employs mythological images in her paintings, believes that Eros, the spontaneous Greek god of lust and love, is needed more than ever in today’s world. "The unpredictable sexual energy of Eros is also highly creative and combustible – it’s the stuff the universe is made of," she asserts. There is, however, one drawback to this interesting collection of erotic art objects and that is, quite simply, we don’t get enough of it (no pun intended). Unfortunately, the eclectic compact exhibit has been relegated to the gallery’s Etc. room, where it appears cramped and confined. Treybig explains it’s merely a matter of timing, as dozens of donated paintings, drawings, pieces of pottery, prints – even a classical music performance – are on display in the main exhibition space during Spring Forward, the gallery’s annual silent auction fund-raiser. Nevertheless, Treybig promises that next year’s erotica art event will be much bigger. "Besides," she chides, "great things do come in small packages. You see, size doesn’t count." She recants a few moments later, though: "Hey, wait a minute. That was a lie. I think Eros should be named the prince of lies!" The Centre Gallery’s first multimedia erotica evening goes this Saturday (April 24) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visual artists will be speaking about their work and there are several literary readings and performances planned. For more information call 237-0383. |
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