Double success at SEAF!
I've been meaning to write all week with an update about the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, but this is an extremely busy time of year for me at work and I just haven't had the energy.
The great news is, two of the three photos I had on display sold! In fact, I heard from a friend who was at the Festival on the first night that they'd already sold then. That's twice the sales I've ever made at any exhibition to date!
The two photos that sold were "Rest and Upheaval," featuring Queen Dandelion at Rialto Beach in July 2018; and "Gothic Sundial," featuring Psychopomp in Seattle in October 2012.
P.S. It just occurred to me that this is the second time one of my photos of Psychopomp has been exhibited at SEAF! She now has the honor of being my sole repeat model at the Festival!
And another cool thing happened as well. I visited the Festival on Sunday afternoon, the final day, and took one of the docent-led art tours. I specifically chose one titled "What is a woman?" because that's a theme close to my heart at the moment, both in my art and in contemporary politics. The docent took us around the exhibition, talking about a number of very interesting pieces of art -- there are some amazing pieces in the Festival this year! -- and finished the tour with one of my photos! "Proof," featuring Lior Allay in Freeway Park in March 2019, and also sometimes called "You say that I am," is my third photograph, the one that didn't sell -- but it was a favorite of the person giving the tour. She talked about how compelling it was for her, in its provocative presentation of gender. In fact, she had a perspective that had never occurred to me; with Lior pulling the front of their pants down to reveal their pubic hair, the docent said, "what is the model about to reveal -- and does it even matter?" Knowing the model, I had never thought that, for a less-informed observer, Lior might actually be about to reveal a penis rather than a vulva.
I love hearing people's reactions to my art for precisely this reason! Art is a creation of an artist or artists, and it conveys a message intended by them. But like any form of human communication, that's only half of the story, because then that message is received an interpreted by an observer, who may, based on different preconceptions or life experiences or knowledge, interpret the message in a completely different way. When you're trying to be precise, this can be problematic. But with art, it opens the door to layers of meaning beyond even what the artists originally intended, and I think that's wonderful.
I've always loved art like this, whether it's visual art, music, poetry, literature, whatever--pieces with many layers of meaning, such that you can come back to a piece of art repeatedly and get new insights from it every time. I think it's what separates good art from great art, and the paintings and sculptures you see in national galleries typically are there because they continue to be relevant over a long period of time, even as human culture evolves around them.
Which could mean that "Proof" might be the photo that ends up in a museum a hundred years from now, while my other two photos are forgotten. Interesting thought!
There was, as I said, so much good art at the Festival. We all got to vote on our favorites for "Best in Show." I haven't heard anything yet about which pieces were chosen, but for my part, I fell in love with a number of photographs from which it was difficult to narrow down my three favorites. I chose "Acceptance" by Kiara Winter, a Washington state photographer that I'd love to meet, showing a nude female torso on what appears to be a forest floor, covered in ladybugs (the second photo here); "A Fallen Angel" by Jackson Photographix, of two nude men, one sitting and gazing straight into the camera, while possessively holding the leg of another man standing in a more classic art pose, his face obscured by the position of his hand (I unfortunately can't find this image online); and "Roe," by David C. Clay, a nude painting of what appears to be a mixed-race woman, hands held slightly apart from her body, palms out, in a pose of supplication, with the word "ROE" painted in large red letters across the middle of the canvas, dripping paint like blood (the base image is here, and you can see the full piece propped up against a table in one of the photos I snapped for this post).
I also really loved a piece called "Self Photograph 081222" by Dix Steele, a nude portrait of an aging male body builder, and "Naturalist" by John Potter (here, I think), a reclining nude black woman on a rock surrounded by a carpet of brown oak leaves. Both photos are un-airbrushed, showing the effects of time on the skin--wrinkles and sagging skin on the body builder, despite an otherwise exceptional physique; and "tiger stripes" on the hips of the woman, which, in my opinion, only add to the character study and the overall beauty of the individual. "483 Barrio Viejo," by Douglas Fur, was another favorite, depicting a nude Hispanic woman in front of an adobe house (a variation of this one). I could go on at length. So much good art!
And the best part? I'm already accumulating some excellent pieces (in my opinion) to enter into the Festival next year. I hope to see you there!