Sexuality continues to remain a perpetually fascinating aspect of human nature. We never tire of holding our desires up to the light to examine them. Neither art, literature or song can seem to definitively untangle this intricate web of lust and longing (but it’s fun trying).
New York’s Museum of Sex is an institution dedicated to this compelling pursuit. Their latest exhibition, I Licked It, It’s Mine, is a group show featuring the work of three artists who all explore sex, desire and intimacy. Though working across different mediums, Oh de Laval, Shafei Xia, and Urara Tsuchiya each, in their own ways, make work that comments on the tenderness, thrill and absurdity of our carnal desires.
“All three of the artists are storytellers, with voices that really complement one another,” explains Chief Curator Ariel Plotek in a conversation over email. “I love the relationship between Shafei Xia’s paintings and her ceramic sculptures, how her favourite characters move from one medium to another with the same light touch. Oh de Laval’s stories involve a darker sense of humour, a detached irony that makes them so wicked and clever. Urara Tsuchiya’s storytelling feels more voyeuristic, albeit a view on sometimes surreal scenarios. All three offer novel perspectives on sexual fantasy – with an emphasis on the fresh and fantastical.”
De Laval’s colourful figurative paintings, with their air of faux-naivety, are deceptively deviant. The Polish-Thai artist tells Dazed, “My work is about being female in the modern world, and I often draw from the experiences of me and my friends. It’s important for me to remind society that women can enjoy sex, be nasty, angry, aggressive, mad, and enjoy gore and violence as men do.”
