Artists say erotic art is fun

As I promised in yesterday’s post, I’m publishing here more images taken from the art exhibition “Conspirateurs du Plaisir” or “Conspirators of Pleasure” presented by Alliance Francaise de Manille and Galleria Duemila.

Agnes Arellano, sculptor

“My continuing crusade is for us to look at sex with a fresh eye, and to re-examine our individual and collective hang-ups that spring from centuries of sexual repression.”

Left: Handheld

Right: Tender Moment Reprise

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Duddley Diaz, sculptor

BululEros No. 1

“BululEros is my main ‘conspirateur du plaisir.’ He appears in a typical bulul pose, in his full masculine potency.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fernando Modesto, painter

Feeling Picasso

“Why be too serious when life and art can be so much fun?”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

French celebrate sexuality from Paris to Manila

On the grounds of the Louvre

Whether in Paris or in Manila, the French aren’t afraid to talk about sexuality.

When I was in the French capital, I saw depictions of nudity in places frequented by tourists.

I’d say that all of them were artistic.

On a train station (left) and near the Eiffel Tower (right)

The French are really good at expressing themselves through the arts.

I suppose that’s possible if you don’t let inhibitions shackle your creativity.

"Two Cobras" by Agnes Arellano

The Philippine capital

In Manila, Alliance Francaise de Manille and Galleria Duemila are currently holding the art exhibition “Conspirateurs du Plaisir” or “Conspirators of Pleasure.”

It features works of sculptors Agnes Arellano and Duddley Diaz and painter Fernando Modesto.

"Entwined, Shy" by Agnes Arellano

Their works reminded me of the depictions of nudity that I’d seen in Paris.

The Total Gallery of Alliance Francaise de Manille, where the works are presently displayed, seemed like a miniature Paris to me – everywhere I looked there were fine examples of artistic self-expression and French-speaking people.

More about the works tomorrow.

Sex shops find their way to me in Paris

We could stay in Paris for only about 24 hours but we spent about a couple of hours just looking for our hotel. 

The hotel is not easy to find because up to now, when I look at Paris maps, I still find it hard to identify the street where the hotel is located. 

I never complained though. I didn’t mind getting lost in Paris. 

“Sexrendipity” 

Still, I felt the urgent need for us to find the hotel. After all, we had to personally confirm our reservation by 5 PM. 

Otherwise, we’d lose our rooms but still had to pay a certain amount. 

So we tried harder. A guy from Cambodia bought an overpriced Paris map (10 euros, I believe), the guy from Bangladesh used his French language skills to ask for directions and I tried to retrace our steps.    

During our frantic search for the hotel, we stumbled upon several sex shops. 

I got curious, and wondered what those shops offered to people. 

But I never thought of actually checking out what was inside because the priorities at the time were to find the hotel and see the Eiffel Tower after that. 

Yes, in Paris the most important thing is the Eiffel Tower. 

The green light seems to say "go!"

Row over South African athlete’s gender reminds me of two Filipina athletes

The brouhaha over the gender of South African athlete Caster Semenya has reminded me of the Mona Sulaiman and Nancy Navalta controversies in the Philippines.

Sports Illustrated on January 2, 1967 described Mona Sulaiman as the ”most controversial athlete” in the Asian Games, referring to questions about her gender.

“Still left unanswered is the question of whether Mona is a Filipino or Filipina,” wrote Marvin Zim.

About three decades later, another athlete, named Nancy Navalta, would be embroiled in a similar row.

I can’t help but wonder why such things keep happening.

Italian PM Berlusconi statement reminds me of sex class in graduate school

“I never understood where the satisfaction is when you’re missing the pleasure of conquest.”

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued this statement in an interview with Italian magazine “Chi,” which was quoted by the BBC in a report about Italy’s leader.

Sex class

Berlusconi’s statement reminded me of the Anthropology 287 class (Seminar in Sex and Culture) that I attended in 2005.

The subject wasn’t about hardcore porn or sexual positions.

It did tackle those things, but it focused primarily on the interrelation between the sexual practices of humans and the other aspects of human culture.

The title of the first article mentioned in this Anthropology 287 class syllabus is "What would Life be without Sex?" I'm wondering too

Jerome Bailen, the instructor, emphasized the importance of sex in society.

Bailen told us that he couldn’t think of any human activity that’s not linked directly or indirectly to sex.

He said that through sex, society replenishes itself as a biological entity and it preserves the values of its ancestors.

Class discussions

In that anthropology class, the instructor and the students talked about several sex and culture-related works.

One of the articles mentioned an interesting quote from Dr. David Givens, an anthropologist from the University of Washington.

“It’s funny. We do all kinds of very technical work, but out goals are still the basic animal goals – courtship and sex,” the article quoted Givens as saying.

I suppose Berlusconi was right when he said that he couldn’t understand the satisfaction derived from sex sans the conquest part of it. He must be really good at wooing women.

He could be the reincarnation of Giacomo Casanova.