EXCLUSIVE: Hardcore porn part of art piece hanging at Queen's Park gallery

[spaminator]

EXCLUSIVE: Hardcore porn part of art piece hanging at Queen's Park gallery
by Michael Talbot and Amanda Ferguson
Posted Jul 15, 2015 6:57 pm EDT
Last Updated Jul 15, 2015 at 9:29 pm EDT
Warning: Story contains graphic content
Naked women performing fellatio and wince-inducing depictions of **** sex may be commonplace in the shadowy world of hardcore pornography. But those graphic images are leaving mouths agape and faces flushed in the light of day at a government building just steps away from the Legislative Assembly at Queen’s Park.
Upon first glance, there’s nothing off-putting about the Sacred Circle XII — a dreamy mandala-like mosaic that’s hanging in the John B. Aird Gallery as part of the 30 under 30 exhibit.
But step a bit closer and the graphic images that comprise the piece by French-Canadian artist Rosalie Maheux pop out with explicit clarity. (To see a closer view, click here)
Maheux says that’s the point. It’s meant to be beautiful from afar, but jarring up close.
“For me, it’s kind of like a feminist comment,” Maheux said. “As a woman I am using other women’s bodies in other ways than pornographic, because I use it to make a beautiful kind of circle.”
“That was my goal, to create a reaction,” the young artist said.
Sacred Circle XII has been on display for the past three weeks, but it was only after CityNews made inquires to the Minister responsible for women’s issues that the gallery began posting signs warning that the exhibit contains images intended for a mature audience.
The Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The piece was selected for inclusion by a guest curator.
The gallery’s art director, Carla Garnet, helped narrow down the selections. She said they weren’t aware of the pornographic images because it was selected only after viewing a small image which rendered the sex acts indiscernible.
“To tell you the truth we didn’t examine it that deeply,” Garnet admitted. “When we were hanging it, it became apparent that it had a lot of specific detail.”
Curious staffers at Queen’s Park have been popping in to the gallery to see what the buzz is all about. Their reactions range from wide-eyed shock to giddy, embarrassed laughter.
Maheux stands by her work and thinks it’s appropriate for the venue.
“I think we have to see it as more of an intellectual piece. I don’t think it’s pornographic,” she insists. “It’s more like a statement about opposition, about beautiful, ugly. It’s a duality.”
The exhibit featuring the controversial piece will be on display at the gallery for eight more days. For more info click here.
EXCLUSIVE: Hardcore porn part of art piece hanging at Queen's Park gallery - CityNews
EXCLUSIVE Video: Pornographic images raising eyebrows at Queen’s Park art gallery
Upon first glance, there’s nothing off-putting about the Sacred Circle XII — a mandala-like mosaic that’s hanging in the John B. Aird Gallery. But step a bit closer and the graphic images that comprise the piece pop out.
Jul 15, 2015, 6:51 PM
EXCLUSIVE Video: Pornographic images raising eyebrows at Queen's Park art gallery - CityNews
Video: Artist Rosalie H Maheux discusses ‘Sacred Circle XII’
Artist Rosalie H Maheux speaks with Amanda Ferguson about her controversial artwork Sacred Circle XII on display at Queen’s Park.
Jul 15, 2015, 2:52 PM
Video: Artist Rosalie H Maheux discusses ‘Sacred Circle XII’ - CityNews

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Now THAT's art!

 

[spaminator]

Hardcore porn in art exhibit at Queen's Park
By Jenny Yuen, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, July 16, 2015 12:49 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2015 06:51 PM EDT
TORONTO - One man’s porn is another woman’s art.
A Queen’s Park art gallery is seeing more action than usual because of local artist Rosalie H. Maheux’s racy piece called Sacred Circle XII.
From afar, the 33-square-inch work looks like a stained glass rose fit for a church. But upon closer inspection, it’s a collage of hardcore pornographic images involving women engaging in oral and **** sex.
Ontario PC women’s critic Laurie Scott said she’s “disappointed” a publicly owned government building, Macdonald Block, has chosen to display graphic and sexually explicit images of women.
“Regardless of the aims or intent of the artist, Ontarians expect their government to lead by example in combating the sexual objectification of women,” Scott said in a statement Thursday. “The fact that a publicly housed gallery has been allowed to not only display but to sell images of this nature is very worrisome.”
Maheux’s psychedelic mandala-like piece, priced at $1,100, is part of the 30 Under 30 exhibit that runs until July 24 at the John B. Aird Gallery.
The artist couldn’t be reached for comment, but told CityNews her goal was to create a reaction. She said Sacred Circle XII is a feminist comment because she’s using other women’s bodies to form flattering geometric shapes.
The gallery falls under the jurisdiction of the province’s Treasury Board Secretariat, but its minister, Deb Matthews, deflected questions to an independent board of directors that operates it.
The gallery’s art director, Carla Garnet, hung up on the Sun Thursday.
“Sorry, don’t want to talk, bye,” she said.
Two other co-presidents of the gallery board — Jowenne Herrera and Sarah Morison — couldn’t be reached.
No word whether the piece will be removed.
Gary Michael Dault, the curator of the exhibit, which showcases 30 Canadian artists under 30 years old, said he’s surprised people get upset over issues that “are 100 years old.”
“The images are so small, that in order to peer at them and be offended by what you see, you really have to inspect closely,” Dault said in a phone interview from his Napanee home. “What’s the fact that it’s located in a government building got to do with anything? The government’s so squeaky clean it can’t even imagine the world sometimes looks at pornographic images on the Internet?”
Dault said as far as he knows, the government didn’t pay the artists in the show. He said he chose Maheux’s piece because of its intricate technical qualities.
“All she’s doing is downloading what’s already there, like going to a library and taking out a book,” he said. “What she did is she sanitized the pornographic images by making them into a mandala — a transcendental image used in some religions as an aid to meditation. What she’s saying is human beings are trivial, but maybe they can be made to see a brighter, stronger ambition for themselves.”
Curious visitors perused the piece Thursday morning. Some were shocked, others simply shrugged their shoulders.
“I think people are too sensitive,” Dave Stirling, 53, said. “It’s art. If you go to any galleries in Europe you’re going to see some degree of nudity, so suck it up. A lot of art galleries are government owned or sponsored.”
A disclaimer at the entrance reads: “Warning: Exhibit contains images intended for a mature audience.”
An OPP officer said he often walks through the gallery, but has never seen “so much excitement.”
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Art experts at Toronto universities say a controversial collage depicting hardcore pornography is indeed art.
Rosalie Maheux’s Sacred Circle XII has raised plenty of eyebrows while on display for a few weeks at the John B. Aird Gallery in Macdonald Block at Queen’s Park. But why is it art?
“If it’s in a gallery, that seems to be a pretty controlled space, but art has always been a forward-thinking medium and artists tend to explore ideas that expand certain notions about what is acceptable,” said Natalie Waldburger, Ada Slaight chairman of contemporary painting and print media at OCAD University. “The context is appropriate.”
She said the piece “can be quite a feminist statement.”
“In the time and place we’re at where female artists are asserting their voice and their own sexuality, it’s a really important piece for that. She’s making the choices and she’s honestly savvy about the role of sexuality in a woman’s life.”
Matthew Brower, a lecturer in museum studies at the University of Toronto, who is familiar with Maheux’s work, said it’s a relevant commentary on society’s relationship with porn.
“Of course it’s art,” he said. “Art needs to talk about things that are affecting people’s lives. It’s reflecting that with the Internet, images of hardcore porn have gone from things on the top shelves, hidden away, to things that are relatively prevalent in the culture.”
A censored closeup of Rosalie Maheux piece titled "Sacred Circle XII."

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