A Study of Erotica
‘A Study of…’ is a decade long series of exhibitions, which started in 2012 in order to archive artwork from world renowned artists, focused on a common subjects, which have a universal importance for artistic practices.
This month at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne, the journey continues with a study on Erotica, the sixth exhibition for the series, following exhibitions on Hands, Eyes, Hair, Camouflage and Darkness.
A Study of Erotica takes viewers through an eccentric, playful and provoking series of artworks – from surrealism to photography by renowned artists worldwide. Curated by Alexander Mitchell, an Australian-born photographer, film maker, artist and co-director of Backwoods Gallery, A Study of Erotica features a diverse collection of artists, across two gallery spaces. Artists include Alpha Channeling, Takeru Amano, Anthony Lister, Alexander Mitchell, Yone and Ashley Wood.
San Francisco-based artist Alpha Channeling is known for creating erotic utopian worlds. With influences spanning from Federico Fellini’s dream journals to the work of Robert Crumb, Alpha Channeling once described his artwork to art critic Jerry Saltz as “a devotional prayer to the feminine principal.”
The work of Tokyo-born artist Takeru Amano, sets to focus on form. His minimalistic pieces have been described by himself as “black and white, woman and man, belongs and not belongs, from painting and printing, to sculpting and designing, delicate it might, an artistic mind with following eyes of various field of life”.
Brisbane-born street and installation artist Anthony Lister, continues in his exploration of art with a series of pieces included within A Study of Erotica. As a child, he immersed himself in comic books which later sparked his fascinated with the heroes and villains he examined in some of his earlier works. Lister now considers these childhood superheroes “a mode of contemporary mythology” – a realisation he came to while studying classical art. Lister’s works bring colour and humor to otherwise degraded buildings, and in A Study of Erotica viewers will have the chance to see yet another side of this multifaceted artist.
Alexander Mitchell and Tokyo-based photographer, artist and art-director Yone, showcase their photographic works expressing their perspective of erotica. Emotional and figurative imagery pulsating with colour are presented by way of Melbourne-based mixed media artist Susanna Rose Sykes, and Los Angeles based artist Kristen Lui-Wong. Although divided by the antipodes, Sykes and Liu-Wong’s pieces bring a fundamental surrealism to the visual study of erotica. Ashley Wood has shared his award-winning illustrations worldwide, having worked for DC and Marvel Comics and has even worked on the character Judge Dredd. Within Wood’s work, viewers have the opportunity to witness the intersection of artistic concepts, styles and ideas.
A Study of Erotica is on display at Backwoods Gallery until Sunday 26 February 2017.
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