Rubens and His Legacy

Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne
Royal Academy of Arts

"The triumph of Rubens's nudes is his magnificent evocation of the texture of human skin, represented in such a way it feels almost palpable. We see blood coursing through the veins of the voluptuous flesh. The delicate mother-of-pearl complexions of the female bodies radiate with light. Their soft skin suggests vulnerability and invites you to touch it. ... Rubens's nudes were, as per tradition, drawn from mythological, literary and sometimes biblical sources." [... in Gallery Guide...]

Let's be honest! Every art work is about sex! Pure and simple sex (homo- and hetero-) veiled under some other subject matter, like politics, religion, science, race, the exercise of power, etc. or the human body sensuality and sexuality while posing and interacting with those dynamics and conditions ruling contemporary life.

New Year's Day!!!

Gay couple with adopted children! an artwork by Alexander Kosolapov (Hero, Leader, God, painted resin, 230 x 211 x 115 cm, 2014)

(right) Gu Wenda, United Nations - Man and Space (human hair, white glue, burlap, dimensions variable), 1999-2000

(left) Ai Weiwei, Coloured Vases (Han dynasty vases and industrial paint, dimensions variable), 2007-10

Tom of Finland: Preliminary Drawings

Tom of Finland
Preliminary Drawings
Stuart Shave / Modern Art

Tom of Finland was born Tuoko Laaksonen in Kaarina, Finland, in 1920. He lived and worked in Finland for the majority of his life, travelling frequently to the United States. He died at the age of 71 in Helsinki, Finland. Tom of Finland's work has been included in the exhibitions Keep Your Timber Limber, ICA, London (2013); The Collectors, Nordic and Danish Pavilions, 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2009); Compass in Hand, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (2009), travelling to IVAM, Valencia, Spain (2010), and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany (2011); Protest and Survive, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2000); Made in California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2000); The 1991 Whitney Biennial (with Group Material), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (1991); and the New Museum, New York, USA (1989). His work is held in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY, USA; Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA.

The New Sexy