In the Curator’s
Statement:
"The names spread across many cultures: Wang, Dong, Schlong,
Dick, Peter, Willie, Johnson or Rod. Some names have punch,
like Schmuck, Prick, Pecker and Cock. Others bust out with
spicy associations, like Wiener Schnitzel, Pink Torpedo, Bald
Monkey or Weeping Jesus. We will never finish the task of
renaming the penis, because we can never finish the task of
understanding it.
"From the
possessor's point of view the penis is a double agent, both
one's own and separate, private and public, a tool and independent
agent. It can be a source of embarrassment or pride, vulnerability
or power. A penis is the little part that preoccupies; its
incessant reproportioning attracts disproportionate attention.
It is a shape-shifting troublemaker.
"Artists and non-artists alike have been depicting the
penis for much of recorded time, in spite of the confusing
and sometimes ferocious prohibition against its representation.
This selection of artworks from the Frank Moore Archive Project
charts a circuitous itinerary through the vast continent of
penis. Some of the members included here have been fashioned
by hand, others are documented photographically, and all were
emphatically made to be looked at. Whether the artist's purpose
was to arouse, protest, explain or provoke, each work testifies
to an irrepressible desire to look at what we've been told
over and over should not be seen in public."
David Humphrey is an artist represented by Sikkema Jenkins
& Co. where he will be having a two-person show with Jeff
Gaunt in February 2006. He will also be having a solo exhibition
later that month at Triple Candie in Harlem. He has curated
many exhibitions including Life and Limb at Feigen
Contemporary, NY, When I Think About You I Touch Myself
at the New York Academy of Art, Tricky Adios, Hello to
Handmade Words at KS Art, NY, and Normotic at
One Great Jones, NY.
Founded
in 1988 by arts professionals as a response to the effects
of AIDS on the arts community and as a way of organizing artists,
arts institutions, and arts audiences towards direct action,
Visual AIDS has evolved into an arts organization with a two-pronged
mission: 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive Project, the largest
slide library of work by artists living with HIV and the estates
of artists who have died of AIDS, Visual AIDS historicizes
the contributions of visual artists with HIV while supporting
their ability to continue making art and furthering their
professional careers, 2) In collaboration with museums, galleries,
artists, schools, and AIDS service organizations, Visual AIDS
produces exhibitions, publications, and events utilizing visual
art to spread the message “AIDS IS NOT OVER.”
The Body is now the most frequently visited
HIV/AIDS-related site on the Web, according to the Medical
Library Association and also the most frequently visited disease-specific
site on the Web, according to Hot 100. The Body contains a
rich collection of information on topics ranging from HIV
prevention, state-of-the-art treatment issues, humor and art.
An invaluable resource, The Body is used by clinicians, patients
and the general public. Part of The Body's mission is to enable
artistic expression to reach the Web, and to join art with
other resources needed to help the public comprehend the enormity
and devastation of the AIDS pandemic and to experience its
human and spiritual dimensions. |
