LIMP
Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna
– part of 'Curated By' season, City of Vienna
Reviews and coverage in Art Review, Kunstkritik, Parnass, Lalok, Austrian national press including Kurier.
'Sexy without ever becoming spectacle'
– Rahel Aima, Art Review
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‘It is important that nobody starts saying, ‘You’re not queer because you’re not into leather, you don’t fuck in a harness. There is that sense of reifying sexual acts above the theory’.
– Tori Smith, Lesbians Talk Queer Notions
‘… the contemporary art gallery is a tolerant place and sometimes gestures that have their origins in urgent contexts or struggles can feel like they are being used to create a slight frisson, without it being particularly thoughtful.’
– James Richards, Queer Times and Place, frieze
Limp is an exhibition addressing the thorny issue of whether the circulation of queer or feminist imagery that is erotic and transgressive, actually keeps sexual minorities marginalised rather than disturbing the status quo. Within the museum, artists like James Richards have argued that exciting queer content offers a momentary ‘thrill’ in the form of temporary exhibitions and events, that allows institutions to avoid making long-term structural changes. Activists have likewise complained that transgressive images of queerness create a marketplace of subversion, in which some marginalised people are not subversive or queer enough.
This exhibition collects together works which analyse or parody claims to transgression, taken from key points in the history of queer culture. Recognising the importance of open discussions of sex and desires, particularly in the wake of the AIDS pandemic which exacerbated the belief that certain acts were seen as shameful and dangerous, the works in this show are not anti-sex nor do they shy away from sexual subject matter. Neither do they embrace a kind of formalism, in which sexual content is obscured or depoliticised as purely aesthetic. Instead they try to address urgent issues of desire and sexuality whilst avoiding titillation. The works also refuse any idealisation of sex acts as innately powerful or world changing, depicting instead the realities of sexual disappointment, gaps between fantasy and its realisation, embarrassments, awkwardness and the comedy of sexuality. These works attempt to address pressing issues of sexual politics, without presenting images for entertainment or titillation.
Artists
General Idea
Robert Blanchon
Cosima Von Bonin
Michael Curran
Lisa Holzer
Richard John Jones
Liz Rosenfeld
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