I finally found some time to prepare a draft for the catalog for the next collection of prints I plan to display as an exhibition. The collection is called “Babes, Bibles, Bikinis and Burkas” and I think that the title is pretty self explanatory…

You can download the PDF catalog here

As always your comments are most welcome : )

Recently I wrote a post about the apparent absence of original Israeli erotic materials both off-line and on the web . I had no idea that the vacuum is such that my own posting would dominate search results so quickly.

As I wrote in my previous post my interest in the field is because I am an Israeli artist and some of the art I create I perceive as erotic art.

The vacuum I am encountering has provoked me to think why so little material is available. This is what I have come up with so far:

1.
Jewish art traditionally shuns the representation of the human body
I think that culturally we Jews as a people have always valued mental development over physical development - Historically we are a culture that values and honors thinkers, writers and philosophers over warriors, heroes and lovers. Jewish art traditionally is forbidden from displaying the human form at all and most art created by Jews over the centuries is in the form of religious and prayer items. Silver-ware and jewelry, embroidery, calligraphy - broadly speaking, these are traditionally realms that Jewish artists dealt in.

It’s mind over body in it’s purest sense. The worship of Beauty, the value of aesthetics, a culture of the physical body, all these are things that are in their infancy in the Israeli psyche at the moment.

2.
Israel is a small country.
Although there are 7,000,000 people in the country today the mentality is still that of a village where everybody knows everybody. People here are still often embarrassed by erotica and would rather not have their interest in erotic materials publicized.

Following a dialog that I recently had with a friend I made online I realized that I have no idea how to create an “Israeli Erotica” that is is different from Serbian, Chinese, or Brazilian erotica.
What would be “Israeli” about it?
How you would understand erotica as being of a specific nationality?
Is it a question of the nationality of the artist?
The nationality of the subject matter?
A correlation to the artistic traditions of a locale or culture?
All of the above?

Comments and responses are always welcome…
: )

I have recently discovered that my gallery of erotic pop art -
Girls! Girls! Girls! …More than just erotic pop art
is showing up nicely when people search for “erotic pop art” on google. This discovery sparked my interest in how widely this genre of art is being practiced in Israel. Surprisingly enough, based on my research, it seems as if very little.

Why is this surprising?
Because it turns out that we are all searching for erotic art all the time - men and women alike and demand should be driving supply - It’s only natural. Believe me when I tell you that there is a huge amount of search traffic out there looking for these materials…
: )

I see the lack of artistic activity in the field of erotic art in Israel as the outcome of three factors:

1.
Jews, and Israelis in particular, have a reppressed attitude to sex, body culture and beauty.

2.
This is a country were everyone knows everyone and exhibitionism is a luxury most people feel they can’t afford…

3.
The average Israeli doesn’t share the zeitgeist of his European or American counterpart. Although the erotic is by now entirely within the realm of the legitimate elsewhere, here in Israel it is still seen as a slightly “racy” topic.

I have been researching the web seeking Israeli erotic and pop erotic representations in the arts and have been rather unsuccessful in locating any quality materials, and since I love women, I love Israel and I love Art I’d be very grateful if you contact me should you find any such materials. Meantime you can enjoy my contribution:
http://www.digitalartprintgallery.com/0/girls-girls-girls.html

The summer is indeed soon upon us.
One of the reasons I love the summer is all the bare skin…

I am currently working on a few new pieces for an exhibition concept that I hope to open here in Israel, or in Bangkok, or possibly Los-Angeles (long shot that one).

It was the advent of summer, the successes of my Political Pop Art prints, together with the recent horror stories of child abuse about the “Burka” wearing sect of Haredi women, that finally drove me to decide that my next exhibition, scheduled for Shavuot, will be called: “Babes, Bibles, Bikinis and Burkas“.

The Jewish holiday of “Shavout” is probably an evolution of ancient pagan agricultural summer and harvest festivals, and has many fertility aspects to it as well. Set to be in the first week of June this year, I hope to have a symbolic opening of the new exhibition on the eve of the holiday.

I’d love to hear your comments regarding the exhibition concept, what types of images and prints would you expect to see, how you would most enjoy the presentation, venue ideas, and anything else on your mind…

: )
Mike

Mike

A beautiful morphing animation video I encountered online stars the greatest feminine subjects of art.
I loved this - I hope you do to…