“All human desire is poised on an axis of paradox,” observed the poet and essayist Anne Carson in her seminal exploration of love, Eros the Bittersweet. In this lyrical meditation on lust, she identified “absence and presence” as one of the many dichotomies at work in the complex mechanism of attraction. 

Reflecting on this symbiosis, a new exhibition at The Museum of Sex in New York brings together a collection of artwork examining the elusive and complex nature of desire. F*CK ART: the body & its absence includes 18 artists working across a variety of mediums in response to the erotic potentiality of the human body. 

A decade after its inaugural F*CK Art show, the Museum has re-established this biennale-inspired format to interrogate the potent perspectives of living artists on sex and sexuality. Featuring a majority of gender variant or queer artists, the show includes work by Alexandra Neuman, Alina Perez, Cajsa von Zeipel, Casey Kauffmann, cherry brice jr., Clifford Prince King, Coyote Park, Erin M. Riley, Jimena Croceri, Justin Yoon, Kayode Ojo, Marie Karlberg, Motoko Ishibashi, Nicki Green, Pacifico Silano, Pixy Liao, Tao Siqi, and Victoria Dugger. 

While the nude may be a lodestone of art history, largely reinforcing a range of patriarchal, normative, and binary visions of gender and sexuality, the artists featured here are invested in intervening in this tradition, making use of the body’s potential as what the gallery describes “a charged and fluid meaning-making agent”. 

“With F*CK ART 2022, we wanted to create a space for artists to present new and evocative artwork that pushes the boundaries of how we represent and discuss sex, in all its complexity,” explained co-curator Eve Arballo. “The biennale format allowed us to dig deep into our theme and present a survey of work that reflects the diverse and nuanced conversations we had with the artists. As the Museum of Sex, we are able to provide a space for artwork to be shown free from censorship or boundaries. We are excited to continue to iterate upon this exhibition format in the years to come as our societal understanding of sex and sexuality shifts and changes.”

Take a look through the gallery above for a glimpse of works on display in the show. 

F*CK ART: the body & its absence is on running at The Museum of Sex from June 10 until October 11, 2022