Artist Myah Sundvall explores the boundary of Art, Erotic Art, and Pornography and Alex Yarde invites readers along.
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A talented artist and Twitter follower of mine Myah Sundvall www.MyahSundvall.com recently updated his website where he posts illustrations and paintings for sale as well as maintains a blog. I enjoy his work and I think other All Thing Geek readers may as well.
I share with his permission an excerpt of one of his latest blog entires “What IS the difference between Erotic Art & Porn?” a few of his creations and my take on Art in general. After all, artistic works have existed almost as long as humankind, early pre-historic bands of socially dependent nomadic hunters and gathers observed and recorded pictures to convey ideas long before written language. To observe the world, create Art to convey meaning or exchange ideas is in our DNA. All young children are primarily artists and scientists. Ancient Scholars believed “Any task done with care is Art.” It’s the human act of creating. “Hippy dippy” for sure, I blame my formal Artistic education for a very passionate take on the cardinality of Art, but for those that work in a more objective sphere I looked it up dozens of definitions and remarkably none were more objective than my very subjective interpretation.
Art- (noun) The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
When I read the phrase, primarily for their “beauty” or “emotional power”, it struck me because both concepts are highly personal and subjective. Much like the pigeonholing of “Erotic Art” and “Pornography” I dare say that the context is key. Displayed in a venue like the Guggenheim museum in New York or the Lourve in Paris, an “Erotic” painting or illustration gains a certain cache that a viewer is influenced by, the descriptions of the curators and the setting. No ones opinions exist in a vacuum. We are all an amalgam of gender, culture and personal beliefs and shlep our insights and baggage around wherever we go like mini traveling circuses. Human animals are perpetually in the act of judging and being judged.
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An old Art professor of mine would joke about the distain he had for what he saw as the Cultural Eliteism of the Visual Arts “Pornography hung at the Whitney (museum) becomes Erotic Art and Erotic Art becomes Fine Art”. If by the context of who painted it, where it’s displayed and how a Curator or Art Critic explain why a work of Art is important, you may be willing to go beyond any initial discomfort, which, is ultimately the point. As Myah observed in his blog-
“Where does Art transition into Pornography and vise versa and is Porn not Art? I truly believe that it is all a matter of perception, and that often the delineation between Art and Porn is truly in the eye of the beholder. Or more so in the INTENT of the beholder. Is it Art or Porn? ask yourself – Do you have to take your pants off to really get into it? Nothing is more frustrating for me, as an erotic artist, than to have someone see my work and go “wow – you drew tits?!” to me, if you look at a nude I drew and all you see is a naked body, then you are missing the point completely. But I wonder if there are Pornstars , other Adult Models (that) feel the same feel the same? What are you creating? Pornography or Art? or Both?”
Provoking a viewers emotional connection with a work of Art and perhaps that viewer gaining insights on where the Artists perspective and their own dovetail or clash is the conversation. So in that light, I’ll invite you to take a look at what this remarkable Artist has to offer.
Myah is looking for guest bloggers on the subject so feel free to contact him at www.MyahSundvall.com or Twitter @MyahSundvall
art credit- Myah Sundvall