"Storytellers" explores sex through novels, illustrations

Kinsey Institute Art Curator Catherine Johnson-Roehr unlocked the door to the gallery.
As she flicked on the lights, a room of erotic paintings, photos, drawings and books came into view.

The Kinsey Institute exhibit, “Storytellers,” will run until Sept. 2 in Morrison Hall. All the art and books on display were pulled from the Kinsey collection. The theme of the exhibit mixes art and literature.

With Japanese pillow books in the center of the room and a Marc Chagall painting on the wall, the artwork on display is wide and various. But upon second review, viewers see that each work tells a story.

“The art tells a story in itself.” Johnson-Roehr said. “Many of the illustrations you see here were actually drawn for books.”

One set of illustrations was completed to accompany the book “Fanny Hill” by John Cleland.

The book, written in 1749, tells the story of a young woman who falls into a life of prostitution. Because of its sexually explicit content, it wasn’t published in the United States until the 1960s. The drawings within the exhibit depict many of the book’s sexual encounters.

“Storytellers” also displays a number of erotically-charged Bible scenes created during the Renaissance.

“During this time, there was a lot of interest in the human body. It was more socially acceptable for artists to paint nudity if it related to religion,” Johnson-Roehr said.

A case of ’60s pulp fiction sits in the middle of the room. Titles such as “Sucked into Sin” and “Sexperiment” are accompanied by depictions of sexual encounters.
Johnson-Roehr said these books were popular, cheap and much like the Internet today in their accessibility. With many different topics available, the novels fed every fetish.

“Storytellers” gives visitors a chance to view sex as an ongoing narrative.