Art & Porn

The Art & Porn exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the release of visual pornography, which was largely spurred on by art that challenged prevailing norms and advocated for more liberation.

On 1 July 1969, the boundaries of what you could experience in the public space were radically changed. It was the first time in the world that image pornography was released in Denmark. Since then, porn has become the world's largest cultural area, and its effects and aesthetics have spread to all other mainstream culture. It is widely believed that the success and expansion of the internet was fuelled by pornography, and streaming services such as Netflix can thank the porn industry for its work with payment systems and the use of big data.

the 1960s was a time of great change and upheaval. The art scene was particularly active in the fight for a more liberated society, and Wilhelm Freddie's work Sex Paralysis Appeal in particular is credited with playing a central role in the liberation of visual pornography. However, Freddie was somewhat ahead of his time when he exhibited the work as early as 1937, which was quickly confiscated and Freddie was sentenced to a so-called prison sentence for pornography.

30 years later, the time was more mature. Although Freddie's new edition of the work was again confiscated, the much publicity surrounding the case - helped along by Freddie himself - attracted more attention in the 1960s and helped pave the way for the final release of the pornography.

- The story of Freddie's two editions of Sex-Parlyseappeal is an excellent example of how art can help challenge and push the boundaries of society and ultimately catalyse significant legislative change. That's why we're pleased to be able to present both editions in the exhibition's opening space," says Rasmus Stenbakken, curator at Art & Porn.

With the tone set, the rest of the exhibition unfolds under a number of different themes that illuminate both the historical development and the myriad of aspects and relationships - good and bad - that arise in the wake of the release of porn to this day.

Along the way, it illustrates the development from the feminism of the 1960s, the MeToo phenomenon and the current fourth-wave feminism. A central figure here is former porn actress Annie Sprinkle, who experienced first-hand the increasing perversion and degradation of porn and, after appearing in almost 200 porn films, ended her career.

Another controversial figure in the exhibition is Jeff Koons, who in his series of works Made in Heaven (1989) presents a large-scale and unabashed depiction of sexual intercourse with his (then) wife. The work's exorbitant depiction of the sexual act broke down the last boundaries, and porn and art now flowed freely in and out of each other.

The final part of the exhibition presents a number of younger female artists such as Maja Malou Lyse and Amalie Ullmann, who use some of the tools of pornography in the fight for women's right to decide and exhibit their own bodies. This takes place not least on social media, where the artists constantly challenge the censorship that media such as Instagram and Facebook exercise towards their users.

Thus, this final part of the exhibition puts a slightly ironic twist on art's relationship with pornography. Wilhelm Freddie's fight against censorship is thus topical again, but where Freddie fought against state censorship, the artists are now fighting against some of the world's largest private companies that exercise a highly transparent censorship on the ubiquitous social media.

A lot has happened in the 50 years since image porn was first released. While the boundaries have been constantly challenged and pushed, the reality of 2019 is still very complex. On the one hand, we have a growing commercial porn industry and on the other, a neo-puritanism that looks back to the morals of the past. Hovering above these is the #MeToo movement, which has managed to put the fight against sexual assault massively on the agenda and caused deep soul-searching in many communities.

This complex relationship between sex, porn, art and society, both past and present, runs like a common thread through Art & Porn:

"The exhibition shows how art has helped to normalise and challenge society's moral framework, but it also points to the complexity that comes with evolution. Times change, and the sexual revolution that many ecstatically embraced in the 60s, which is inextricably linked to the release of image pornography, has also had shadowy sides and created confusion. This is still reflected today in ongoing debates about sex, boundaries and morality at home and abroad," explains Rasmus Stenbakken.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

Anna Uddenberg, Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens, Amalia Ulman, Arthur Køpcke, Betty Tompkins, Biba Fibiger, Bjørn Nørgaard & Lene Adler Petersen, Carolee Schneemann, Gaspar Noé, Cindy Sherman, Elmgreen & Dragset, Hanne Nielsen & Birgit Johnsen , Hans Henrik Lerfeldt, Jeff Burton, Jeff Koons, Jesper Fabricius, Katja Bjørn, Larry Clark, Lawrence Weiner, Linder, Lynda Benglis, Maja Malou Lyse, Marco Brambilla, Marilyn Minter, Marina Abramović, Matthew Barney, Mika Rottenberg, Mike Bouchet, Monica Bonvicini, Per Kirkeby, Peter Land, Pipilotti Rist, Ryan Mcginley, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Sarah Lucas, Simon Fujiwara, Susan Hinnum & Sarah Young, Suzette Gemzøe, Tom Of Finland, Ursula Reuter Christiansen, Valie Export, Wilhelm Freddie, William E. Jones, Wolfgang Tillmans.

Spar Nord

Statens Kunstfond