The Erotic Impulse in an Ever Becoming Universe lookbook

nov 19 - Dec 18 2022

THE EROTIC IMPULSE IN AN EVER BECOMING UNIVERSE

FEATURING ARTISTS:

Haleh Mashian Mei Xian Qiu Cheyann Washington Aaron Sheppard Gary Brewer Aline Mare Nelly Zagury

Samuel Spurrier/Olivia Sears Kiel Johnson

Curated by Gary Brewer

The creation of art itself is a manifestation of Eros. The river of creation that flows from the beginning of time is the source from which artists draw their inspiration. We are meaning makers, and language is the medium through which we convey our musings. These are not extraneous embellishments to adorn a meaningless world, but utterances that reflect the forces that shape our world and us. They fuse the past with the present and speak to a future yet to come. We are social animals and our connection to each other through music, dance, images, symbols and stories are the weave and weft of the fabric of living memory that we wear in order to understand the world and ourselves. It is, in a sense, an expression of Eros, as we seek intimacy and love, to entwine ourselves together as a family, a community and a culture.

Eros is the life instinct. Its opposite is Thanatos, a constant shadow upon human consciousness. Though death is a natural part of our existence, we are vulnerable to the lure of Thanatos and its poetry of self-annihilation, finding in it a dark respite from the weight of this mortal coil. Eros is the principle that guides each of us, the begetter of love for oneself, for one another, and for life itself. It is the sunlight, which flowers can sense, and turn towards.

In this exhibition, I have chosen artists whose work aligns itself with the erotic principle. They explore both the physical pleasures of the flesh and the broader philosophical ex pressions reflecting our awareness that life itself is dependent upon the pregnant possibil ities with which Eros seeds the world, filling it with indestructible life.

The erotic impulse is a force that guides us: it is our spirit guide, reminding us to give thanks for the joy of existence—and also to give of ourselves. To create and share the energy that animates our souls and gives life to this unfolding universe.

Essay by Gary Brewer

HALEH MASHIAN

In the rich surfaces and swirling compositions of Haleh Mashian, the dynamic forces of feminine and masculine energies move in a dynamic journey. They seek balance, but there is a tipping point to these forces that keeps them in constant motion. Haleh has been practicing a spiritual path for years that embraces the erotic energy that pervades the universe as an elemental life force, an animating power that illuminates life and consciousness.

Nude Study 1

Acrylic on canvas 18” x 18”

Nude Study 5

Acrylic on canvas 18” x 18”

Nude Study 3

Acrylic on canvas 18” x 18”

Erotic and sensual pleasure is set in a theater of fantasy in Qiu’s work. Losing one self in a lover, experiencing the deep joy of erotic pleasure and the love of another, is a form of liberation and a measure of how to gauge happiness in one’s life. Joy is a birthright and a state of consciousness that is fundamental to living a meaningful life. It is a song sung to the muses that comes from the radiating vibrations of the erotic impulse.

XIAN QIU

8990, Photograph on plexiglass, 48” x 48”

Birdcage

The Orchid, Photograph on plexiglass, 36” x 24”

CHEYANN WASHINGTON

The play of forms we see in Cheyann Washington’s paintings expresses the natural rhythms of nature and how we humans are an intricate part of this dance of life. Washington pours inks and natural dyes that she makes from plants and soil onto silk and fabric. Some of her work is fluid and swift; each pour becomes a human form, a plant or some spirit in-between worlds. She paints with oil on canvas as well, where her figures and the space they inhabit are more fully developed, creating a form of magical realism: a realm where the spirits hiding in the shadow of a flower come out to play.

In the Field, Her Basket Feels Earth pigments, plant matter and oil on canvas

AARON SHEPPARD

In Aaron Sheppard’s work, Dionysian forces tear away the layers of social norms and restraints that strive to contain each of us in a convenient box, defining our behavior, sexual appetite and identity, and using shame as a moral force to hold together society’s goal of control. He taps into the spirit of Dionysus, a god of wine, chaos and ecstasy. The frenzy of life and death is contained in a single deity, who represents indestructible life in an ever-becoming universe.

FÜSSCHEN

Oil, acrylic, fiberglass mannequin, carved wood 80” x 33” x 42”

GARY BREWER

Erotic sensuality and the body are the vehicles guiding the mind and spirit towards the fullness of life. Close-ups of the inner space of the orchid radiate patterns and lush sensual curves are an expression of beauty: alluring and seductive. They suggest female genitalia, the erotic curves and folds mirroring human anatomy. The waxy flesh-like petals infuse their visage with a palpable sexual aura.

Voluptas

Glazed ceramic 19” x 12” x 6.5”

Venus and the Sea

Glazed ceramic 21” x 10” x 9”

ALINE MARE

Aline Mare’s work is focused on the Vulvic space, creating her own mythic narrative where the yoni is a point of power. Eros is a myth that has inspired her work for years. In these works, Mare is empowering the feminine, whose fecundity and birthing of the world is suggested in the overlay of nature and geological forces in their ever-unfolding journey of birth-life-death and rebirth.

Venus in Fur Mixed media on canvas 48” x 36”

Cupid’s Arrow V, Psyche’s Treasure

Ceramic, gold, enamel, crystals, and mother of pearl.

9” x 17.5” x 5.5”

Djinn’s Heart

Ceramic, gold, bleu de Severs enamel, crystals, and mother of pearl.

8.75” x 6” x 3”

Cupid’s Arrow IV, Mermaid’s Battle

Ceramic, gold, bleu de Severs enamel, crystals, and mother of pearl

7.5” x 12.5” x 5.75”

NELLY ZAGURY

Nelly Zagury has been researching her own cultural history, reaching back into her French/Moroccan ancestry to find knowledge, myths and imagery that add layers of meaning to her lush, whimsical and deliciously erotic paintings and sculptures. Her images convey an Orientalist fantasy: sen sual and erotic, where the body is a container of deep truths coaxed into one’s consciousness through pleasure, love and play.

“To bring together the spirit and the body through feminine rituals of ornamentation is a form of magic. It is the symbiosis of the body and the mind through which we can travel through the subconscious and our dreams.”

OLIVIA SEARS AND SAMUEL SPURRIER

The poem by Olivia E. Sears and the fabric banner and calfskin-bound book made by Samuel M. Spurrier were created spe cifically for this exhibition. One part is presented as a banner that expresses the erotic as an unfurling, creating a psychic space of celebration that also envelops and protects.

The poem and the silk banner become a magic carpet to soar above oppressive forces that inhibit and arrest the fluid nature of the soul. Eros is not only an ecstasy of the flesh, but also the joy of a soul and intellect, free to explore and articulate the contours of one’s life.

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Botanical dyed lambskin and silk, dried flowers, handmade Japanese paper, 120” x 53”

KIEL JOHNSON

To the artist, these lamp-like forms inspired by Tantric sculpture give birth to a new universe. Extending this metaphor to embrace the theory of the multi-verse, each of these is a different universe. Johnson has always been attracted to sculptural shapes that suggest a vaginal form; in these works, images of the yoni and the lingam have guided him.

For a few of these lamps, Johnson wanted to have an oozy, drippy fluid spilling forth—a universal, primordial ooze from which life is mani fested. These pieces are different colors, one a red tone and another a dark er brown; these colors refer to the earth elements from which we came.

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