
Erotic Art:
Born in
prudishness
It is surely no coincidence that two of the most renowned artists and painters of erotic, Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, grew up at the end of the last century in the prudish atmosphere of the Austrian captial, Vienna. Out of this climate of repression sprang Siegmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory as well, which placed sexuality at the center of human conflict. Today, on the eve of the 21st century, erotic art remains the dirty stepchild of nearly all genres of the graphic arts bar the comic.
Eroticism
in the Internet
Are internet surfers unusually voyeuristic, sexually curious, erotomanic? "Porno" and "hardcore" are the terms most often searched for by internet users. "Adult sites" are visited by thousands of persons each day, whereas art sites are fortunate to be visited by this many people in the course of an entire year. And sexism in the internet is a constant topic of media debate. To present erotic art under these circumstances is surely controversial, and can quickly win applause from the wrong corners -- i.e. from those seeking sexual sensation rather than erotic fascination.
Women:
Neither whores
nor saints
Erotic art is only one of Christine Dumbsky's genres of painting. Perhaps this distinction is a false one, betraying more about our -- still -- prudish culture, which labels all art in which nakedness appears as 'erotic', than about Christine's motives. You will search in vain for portrayals of crude sex acts in her art work. Indeed, the 28-year-old ascribes eroticism a subordinate role in her painting. Visitors of our special exhibition will no doubt also get the impression that 'the female' and not 'emale erotic'forms the leitmotiv of her painting. The women in her paintings are complex and contradictory: self-confident yet shy, anxious yet vivacious, self-sacrificing yet dominating, and passionate though detached. It is a rebuff to the cliché: Women are neither whores nor saints, neither heroes nor homebodies.
Painting in
timeless space
Christine is an autodidact. She uses a special acrylic-dispersion mix technique on wood, in which forms become plastic and spring out at you, transcending their two-dimensionality. She often takes her inspiration from music. "I associate most of my paintings with a particular song. I listen to this song repeatedly while working and find myself in a kind of timeless space or trance."
Music
plays a
formative role
Music also plays a big role in Christine's day job. Unfulfilled by her work as an assistant to a tax consultant, she now works -- after a brief foray into show business as a hard-rock singer --in a music publishing house and is responsible for its song catalog, coordinates co-writes between song writers and artists, and negotiates with record companies.
Her paintings:
emotionally intriguing
and a chronicle
of our times
Maybe the rather prude and conservative upbringing in a small village in Southern Germany led Christine Dumsbsky, too, to develop an interest in painting -- and especially erotic painting. "Painting is and was for me a means of expressing my feelings and perhaps also a rebellion against all convention." In any case, the at once photo-realistic and symbolically rich character of her work not only fascinates the observer emotionally, it also provides a small chronicle of our times.
Enjoy our exhibit. And if you are yearning for more: go to our page "Christine" or directly to Christine's Gallery.
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