Archive

Such dense psychological nuance would constitute a pointless complication in pornography, which aims solely to arouse, and the painting’s simmering emotional intensity invites metaphysical readings.

The artist seems to make the sexual urge a metaphor for aspiration to union with higher forces - God, the cosmos, creativity or ethical perfection. The confusion with pornography arises because Greenblatt equates eroticism with spirituality, and compels us to witness sexual intimacies to which we are not normally privy.

Such explicitness forces us into the role of voyeurs, and makes engagement with the paintings so fraught we loose sight of their symbolic dimension.” 

Through Flesh We Move Toward The Light’ - Lloyd Pollak    ARTTHROB REVIEW 2003