Kinsey Institute exhibits erotic Eastern art

The Kinsey Institute will be holding a new exhibit called “Eros in Asia: Erotic Art from Iran to Japan” from Friday until June 26.

The gallery is open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays on the second floor of Morrison Hall. The exhibit is free, and the institute recommends that audience members be 18 or older.

The exhibit uncovers erotic artwork from across the Asian continent. The material made its way to the institute through years of collecting by Kinsey himself, said Garry
Milius, associate curator for the Kinsey Institute. A few pieces in the exhibit are loaned.

The pieces are positioned in the room based on country of origin, and the gallery begins with Japan. The style of art varies from woodblock prints to paintings on silk.

The next section is dedicated  to Iran. These pieces were created on paper using different utensils such as ink, pencil and paint. Some prints used a more opaque type of watercolor called Gouache, Milius said.

The last country explored is China. In this display, the art is not limited to prints with paint and ink, but includes a well-known Chinese tradition called foot binding. There are three sets of shoes decorated with vibrant colors on display beneath the paintings.

According to the exhibit, the process requires young women to break their feet at a young age and then bind them in a bootie. Grown women ended up with 3-inch feet, which became the most eroticized feature of a woman’s body. Each piece of Chinese art shows the woman’s feet bound in tiny shoes.

Milius said the pieces of artwork in the show contain intense detail, so viewers must be forewarned.

“This show is more graphic than other shows, and people have to come prepared,” Milius said.

Not only is the art graphic, but the origins are of traditionally conservative cultures, he said.

Freshman Cody Butcher said he finds it fascinating that the cultures and people of China, Japan and Iran really weren’t so conservative, especially so long ago.

Many locals are grateful for Kinsey’s interest in not only the subject, but in his collection of visual data as well.

“That’s one of the treasures of this art,” Bloomington resident Susan Rautio said. “It’s good art, and it’s not very accessible.”