Erotic art brings diversity to Kinsey

While biblical text and nude erotic images may seem to combine as naturally as oil and water, they join together seamlessly at the Kinsey Institute's current art exhibition. \nDepicted in the mixed media piece “Fragments of a Dream” by San Jose, Calif., artist Karen M. Gutfreund, the text and nude images are one example of the artistic diversity on display at The Kinsey Institute’s second annual Juried Erotic Art Show. Showing at the Kinsey gallery and the institute’s second floor until July 20, the show features 80 pieces out of the 385 submitted, said Gary Milius, assistant curator at the institute and coordinator of the show.\n“There’s quite a variety.” Milius said. “Everything from photography to ceramic pieces to a few paintings.”\nNow in its second year, the erotic art show came about as an idea for expanding the institute’s gallery, Milius said. The show is a way to display work not normally shown in other art galleries.\n“It’s a nice way to get in contact with artists that have work relevant to our collection,” Milius said. According to The Kinsey Institute’s Web site, no public funds are used to acquire the erotic materials in the collection, which instead relies on gifts, donations and private institute income. \nMilius said submissions this year were from 27 states and seven countries, coming from professional and amateur artists as well as from students. Although Milius organized the materials in the show and hung the artwork, he said it was fun to go into the show blind. \n“Even though I’m familiar with the nearly 400 pieces, I don’t know what’s going to be put in the show,” Milius said. “It’s a surprise.”\nThe one person not surprised by the choices was Karen Baldner, who selected which pieces would be appearing in the show. As a local artist and associate instructor at the Herron School of Art Design at IUPUI , Baldner said she used criteria such as providing a broad representation of sexual orientations and types of media, the size of the work and the artistic factors important to the institute when selecting the artworks.\n“Maybe the most important (criteria) is I had to ask myself ‘What is art?’ and ‘What is erotic?’” Baldner said. She added that while “art” is a representation by a metaphor, “erotic” is harder to define because of its subjective nature. Baldner said that erotic is mostly an expression of an invitation to the sexual act.\nOne erotic piece of art that Milius said stands out is titled “Medusa.” According to the Web site of its creator, Austin, Texas artist David Amdur, the piece is a found object that is transformed into the snake-headed woman from Greek mythology. \n“I think I’m attracted to it because of its movement,” Milius said. “I think at any moment it’s going to leap off the stand.”\nAlso notable is the ceramic work “Mirror, Mirror” by John Ham from Columbus, Ohio. The winner of the exhibition’s Best in Show award, Milius describes the pink three-dimensional piece as ambiguous. \n“The viewer can project themselves into it and identify what the objects are,” Milius said. \nThe exhibition is on display Mondays through Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, call 855-7686.