The only Museum in USA dedicated to Erotic Art

WEAM  - WILZIG EROTIC ART MUSEUM  

THE MUSEUM BRINGS TO MIAMI BEACH

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON EROS AND FEMALE  INDIVIDUALITY, DESIRE, AND THE BODY’S KNOWLEDGE 

 

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 The Great Wall of Vulva  by Jamie McCartney, Quarantine Nudes by Kevin Berlin, an two exhibitions by the Kinsey Institute, featuring artists Emilio Sanchez and Austin Osman Spare  

 

 

– Unapologetic and uncanny, the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum of Miami (WEAM) will welcome guests to its most dynamic exhibition to date, with four different shows that celebrate individuality and address the sensual nature of the human being through both contemporary and historic lenses.

 

the museum will unveil Jamie McCartney’s seminal work “  The Great Wall of Vulva  a 26 ft-long frieze consisting of a mosaic of plaster-cast, genital close-ups of 400 women. The work lands in the US for the first time, following exhibitions in  European institutions such as the Triennale di Milano and Musex - Museu Pedagógico do Sexo in Lisbon. 

The same day marks the museum’s debut of New York artist Kevin Berlin’s ``Quarantine Nudes,” an ensemble of vibrant and heartfelt nude drawings on paper and large-scale oil on canvas paintings, where Berlin examines the classical nude in a unique moment of post-pandemic vulnerability. 

 

Honoring the long-standing collaboration with the Kinsey Institute — the premier research institute on human sexuality and relationships —  the museum will also host “Intimate Forms,” the drawings of widely collected Cuban artist Emilio Sanchez, as well a folio by famed British occultist Austin Osman Spare, “Psychopathia Sexualis”.

 

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The juxtaposition of these historic and contemporary artworks in a shared time and space mirrors the museum’s dedication to explore the themes of sexual relationships, somatic awareness, and desire through diverse cultural perspectives, as is the legacy of beloved founder Naomi Wilzig. 

“I grew up in a collector’s family surrounded by outstanding paintings,'' says WEAM’S director Helmut Schuster. “I learned early that drawing and painting is the base of everything. Kevin Berlin is without a doubt a painter by soul. His open, sensible view allows us to see the truth behind the perfect painted facade. 

Our show Quarantine Nudes is for me the first artistic reflection of this lonesome years of pandemic – that he spent in Italy — which everyone in the world went through. His paintings are positive, full of beauty and love, and they go deep into the human psyche. Combining Berlin's show with the arrival of British artist Jamie McCartney’s masterpiece, “The Great Wall of  Vagina Vulva!”, is more than perfect timing. With this already iconic sculpture, McCartney created one of the first feminist body statements which is, ironically, done by a man. The artwork shows directly and unmistakably that vulvas are as different as faces and other parts of the body, and his statement against uninformed cosmetic surgery is more than an artistic protest, it is a relevant political statement for basic human rights. Jamie McCartney’s work is elegant, and the sculptural composition of the piece works without any context as an independent artwork.In a time where women are killed because they no longer wear headscarfs, a time when women are no more able to control what happens in their own body, it is relevant and necessary that artists and museums raise their voice.”

 

WEAM and Jamie McCartney will work closely together in the next few years. The arrival of “The Great Wall of  Vagina Vulva!” is just the beginning of a partnership that will follow with a solo show by the English artist in 2024, while the time in between will be filled with lectures and events.

“Our opening will be completed by two guest shows created by our longtime partners at the Kinsey Institute. Thework of Emilo Sanchez and Austin Osman Spare, two very different artists working on different themes around sexuality, intimacy, and form, fit perfectly into our idea of high quality art that is both deeply personal and speaks to some of the political, sexual, and societal issues of their time.”

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

Jamie McCartney, “The Great Wall of Vagina Vulva!”

Born in London’s swinging sixties to an artist mother and engineer father, creating things was always on the cards for artist Jamie McCartney. A lot of his young life was spent in museums and galleries. At 24 he moved to the US where he attended the Hartford Art School in Connecticut, graduating summa cum laude in Experimental Art in 1991. Prior to becoming a full-time artist, Jamie worked as an SFX technician and prop-maker in the film industry. Here he learned to mold from and sculpt the body, perfecting his skills for figurative realism. Alongside this career he ran a metal-working forge, creating animal sculptures in steel, to maintain what he called his ‘art habit’. 

After experimenting with genital casting in the 1990s, his iconic work “The Great Wall of  Vagina Vulva!” was executed over 5 years, between 2006 and 2011. To craft the 26 ft-long frieze in plaster, McCartney cast the vulvas of 400 women volunteers. To be as inclusive as possible his models ranged from 18-76 years old and included mothers and daughters, identical twins, trans men and women and many others, all participating anonymously.

 

The project began while Jamie was producing a commission for a sex education museum in London.  Whilst casting the women, he was surprised by how many were unhappy with their genitals’ appearance. Dismayed by the realization that a toxic, male narrative may play a role in this, he set out to address this genital anxiety by demonstrating normal, vulva diversity and dispel the idea that there is a ‘perfect vulva’ to which all should aspire.

 

Through the medium of plain plaster casts, presented in an architectural style, “I found a way to show the form of the vulva in a way that bears no comparison to pornography. They are just shapes and you can stare and satisfy your curiosity in public, without shame."

 

 

Kevin Berlin, "Quarantine Nudes”

Kevin Berlin is an international artist best known for painting, sculpture, and performance. Berlin currently lives in Southampton, New York and Florence, Italy. Berlin, a Yale University Alumnus, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. 

 

During the WEAM show, he’ll present 60 gouache on paper and large-scale oil on canvas paintings, executed during the quarantine days, which he spent in Italy, where lockdown was particularly strict, along with its attendant isolation. 

 

The figures have protective masks and gloves. “We weren’t even sure if someone was allowed to visit an art studio. Together with the model, we agreed it was best for both of us to just wear a mask, and get back to work. The poses somehow reveal the universal nature of everyone’s most private and intimate thoughts. So much is going on even when nothing is going on. The results revisit the classical nude with works on paper and large-scale oil on canvas, and proves that sometimes the most challenging situations are also the most inspiring.”

 

The show also features a video black box with highlights of the artist's career in performance art.

 

Kevin Berlin’s works are found in collections of the likes of actress Kim Basinger, Luciano Pavarotti, David Letterman, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, and Quincy Jones. Berlin's recent solo exhibitions include shows in Miami, New York, London, and the Hague.

 

Exhibition by Emilio Sanchez and Austin Osman Spare, a collaboration with the Kinsey Institute

 

To cap off the Kinsey Institute’s 75th Anniversary year, the institute is partnering with the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum (WEAM), to present two of their most popular exhibitions: Austin Osman Spare’s “Psychopathia Sexualis” and Emilio Sanchez’s “Intimate Forms.”

 

WEAM and the Kinsey Institute have collaborated many times on exhibitions, conferences, and programming, and to honor Kinsey’s 75th anniversary, WEAM has invited Kinsey to present these two exhibitions beginning  during  Miami Art Week. 

 

 

Austin Osman Spare: Psychopathia Sexualis

Curated by Rebecca Fasman, Ryan M. Pfeiffer and Rebecca Walz

Dates: November 28, 2022 - May 29th

 

This landmark exhibition, which premiered at Iceberg Projects in Chicago as the artist’s first solo show in North America, celebrates the centennial anniversary of this rare folio of erotic drawings from the Kinsey Institute’s Library and Special Collections. The works on display depict numerous tableaux of a grotesque bacchanalia featuring monstrous figures, satyroi, animals, and portraits of Spare himself. The unveiling of this folio contributes forty-four new works to the oeuvre of Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956). 

Publication: Austin Osman Spare: Psychopathia Sexualis Publisher: FULGUR PRESS, UK.

 

 

Emilio Sanchez, Intimate Forms

Curated by Rebecca Fasman

November 28, 2022 – May 29th, 2023

 

Emilio Sanchez (1911-1999) was a Cuban-born artist who moved to the United States in the late 1930s. Though he was trained in old master techniques, he preferred a more abstract style in his own work. Sanchez is best known for his drawings and paintings of architecture and built spaces, especially of Cuba before the revolution. His spare, colorful style filters out every extraneous detail to focus on shape, color, and form, creating bold geometric works that are instantly recognizable as his. This exhibition presents a selection of twenty five works by Emilio Sanchez held in the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections, most of which depict abstracted figures, treated with the same signature style for which Sanchez is celebrated.

This exhibition is generously supported by a trustee of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation. 

  

 

ABOUT THE WEAM

Founded in 2005 by Naomi Wilzig, WEAM is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to fine erotic art. In a remarkably short time for a continually  private collection, WEAM has developed one of the world's most renowned permanent museums for this genre, gathering 400 works and many more to come.

WEAM is a proud member of the “The WILZIG,“ the international place for art in the heart of South Beach in Miami.Today the WEAM Collection includes works of international art, ranging from 300 BCE to the immediate present. Alongside its mission to familiarize the general public with erotic art, the WEAM'S other prime objective is to present works of erotic art of the highest quality from diverse cultures and embrace responsibility to engage and educate the community. 

 

 

For press inquiries & information concerning these exhibitions, please contact: 

 

Paola Camillo at paola.camillo@gmail.com and info@weam.com

Or Marie Metelnick at kmetelni@iu.edu for questions related to the Kinsey Institute.

 

For more information: 

 

WEAM - https://www.weammuseum.com

Kinsey Institute  - https://kinseyinstitute.org