HIEROPHILIA (THE SECRET CABINET) | 2002 - 2006
A head of penises, though I am unsure about the source. This file is circulating on the web but it is visibly put together with the title of the book 'Histoire du Prince Apprius' which can be viewed online where it does not feature that engraving. A part of the Body & Soul series, the pornographic origin of the cut-out body parts used in these montages is most obvious, as many of the shrines are built from male and female sexual organs. The concept of a separation between 'mind' and 'body' includes a perversely uneasy relationship to human sexuality in most cultures and religions. Sexual drives and organs are considered and culturally cemented to be very much 'body' as if distinct from the intellect/mind/soul. Changing moral viewpoints of Western art-history mean that the reception of sexually explicit artworks or even the depiction of simple nudity ranges from codes of acceptance to the covering-up of genitals with fig-leaves to destruction – or hiding away, as in the case of the 'Secret Museum' or 'Secret Cabinet' (Gabinetto Segreto) of Naples that houses erotic art from Pompeii and Herculaneum. 'Hierophilia' is a sexual fetish where arousal is caused by religious objects. Two visual inspirations for me are shown here, one being Francesco Urbini's well-known "Dish with a composite head of penises" that can be found in one of my favourite Museums, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. These are some of the very first montages I made in this style. Most of these were made between 2002 - 2006. The print size is kept deliberately small scale, so the viewing experience is one of discovery when getting close and 'zooming' into detail.