"Idyll"

  • Idyll.jpg
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$8,000.00

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Responses (1)

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John Crowther
John Crowther Critic

September 13, 2022

Surrealist and sensual, Henryk M Fantazos’ "Idyll" avoids the pitfalls that often plague erotic art.

Sex is a tricky subject to artistically capture. The many taboos associated with the act, its intensely personal nature, the relative rarity of an unsought-out visual encounter, and the inelegance of most representations makes it all too easy for such work to come across as pornographic. An earnest artistic exploration of sex that does not descend into lewd and soulless smut necessitates a nuanced approach. If one were to show sex without metaphor or visual complexity, it would be robbed of its beauty and emotion.

For some time, artists have debated if showing copulation is even possible in a non-pornographic fashion. In 1959, genre-defining experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage made Window Water Baby Moving, an incredibly graphic film of his wife having a home birth. He correctly pointed out that having a child is one of humanity’s most magical endeavors. Still, the actual act of birth is widely considered visually unpleasant and kept out of the public eye. He posited that sex is the least beautiful part of the process and can never be visually communicated non-pornographically (he did not think the act itself was unsavory, but only its visual representations). Equally masterful experimental filmmaker and friend Carolee Schneemann strongly disagreed with his assessment and made Fuses in response. She filmed herself and her boyfriend having sex over a few months and initially found the footage pornographic. Determined to express their love, she buried the footage, grew mold on it, and painted it, resulting in a touching and tender masterpiece.

Fantazos channels Schneemann’s artistry and daring. "Idyll" does not shy away from the subject matter while remaining undiluted by exploitation. 

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Henryk M Fantazos

September 13, 2022

Pornography and prostitution are heavy industries of sex. I am interested in expressing something very private, occluded eroticism - almost opposite of porn , turning eros into public pissuar as what prostitution does. The whole human horizon is discreetly given to us with constant elements of temptation. We are not out of Eden yet!

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Henryk M Fantazos
Creator
Category
Figurative, Realism
Type
Painting - Framed
Materials
Oil, Egg Tempera, Canvas
Dimensions
24.00 inches wide
24.00 inches tall
0.00 inches deep
Weight
3.00 lbs
Location
Hillsborough, NC, US
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