now on view in NYC

Get Off! Exploring the Pleasure Principle

Get Off! was our first contemporary exhibition featuring the work of established and emerging artists who investigate sexual titillation as a means to examine their relationship with pleasure in society. The exhibition, which took an uplifting, humorous look at the age-old art of stimulation, was expressed in a variety of media ranging from video, sculpture, photography, painting, and performance.

Exhibiting artists included AA Bronson, Greg Curry, Jane Dickson, Lisa Dilillo, eteam, Terence Koh, Joseph Maida, Laurel Nakadate & Dora Malech, Tom Otterness, Txuspo Poyo, Karim Rashid, Mabi Revuelta and Michael Schmelling & Matthew Salacuse.

The exhibition also featured an installation of ephemera curated by art historian Kirby Gookin that included seminal ads, cartoons, drawings, and photocopies by post-war artists who investigate sexual titillation to provoke political and social responses from the viewer. Artists included Lynda Benglis, AA Bronson, Tee Corinne, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Carolee Schneemann and more.

Get Off! was organized by guest curator Robin Kahn, a contemporary artist whose work examines issues surrounding gender conditioning and sexual identity. Her work appears in the permanent collections of such leading New York institutions as the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Whitney Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum, as well as at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. Robin also curates, organizes and edits art projects that breakdown the traditional boundaries between artist and public. Her exhibitions, art anthologies and artist books have been reviewed in ArtForum, ID, Print Collectors Newsletter, World Art, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Elle and Vogue, among others.

GREG CURRY

A visual artist and political cartoonist for Bumpahead comics whose work centers around the themes of societal alienation and individual longing. His site bumpaheadcomics.com is a constantly changing platform for his ideas and projects. His 3004 Calendar was recently on exhibit at Wallspace Gallery in New York.

JANE DICKSON

A visual artist who creates nighttime visions of urban life and suburban flight in a variety of inventive painterly modes. In the early 1980s, she co-founded Colab with Charlie Ahearn, Kiki Smith and Tom Otterness, among others. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. and Europe. Several of her paintings and prints are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum of Art and MOMA. Dickson is represented by Marlborough Gallery in New York.

LISA DILILLO

A video artist whose work explores the themes surrounding the body politic, time, and childhood conditioning. She recently received a grant from The Jerome Foundation and a residency at the Experimental Television Center in New York. Her films have been exhibited in festivals worldwide including The Walker Art Center, The Rotterdam Film Festival and The Moscow International Festival of Dance.

ETEAM

The collaboration of New York-based artists Franziska Lamprecht and Hajoe Moderegger whose work on videos and installations center around themes specific to their location. Their projects have been shown at New York City’s Eyebeam and Momenta Art Gallery; at Grizedale in England; and at Halle 14, Leipzig. In January 2004, they were awarded a Harvestworks New Media Residency.

KIRBY GOOKIN

An art historian, critic, curator, public artist and staff critic for ArtForum. He has written numerous articles and reviews on 20th Century art for ArtscribeArts MagazineParkett and other well-known gallery and museum publications.

TERENCE KOH

A multimedia artist whose work explores personal and poetic meditations on sexual and racial identity, boyhood, love, and sex. He is one of the emerging artists invited to participate in the Whitney Biennial 2004. His web site asianpunkboy.com is an interactive work in progress. Koh’s artwork is shown courtesy of Peres Projects in Los Angeles.

JOSEPH MAIDA

A freelance photographer, teacher, and video artist who explores themes of lust, hope and longing in tender and sumptuous portraits and landscapes. His work has been included in the Moscow International Film Festival and the Queens Museum of Art. His editorial photography has appeared in such publications as WThe New York TimesDetailsTokion and on the Independent Film Channel’s Rant. Maida is represented by Wallspace Gallery in New York, where his exhibition Endless Romance opens April 3, 2004.

LAURAL NAKADATE

A photographer and video artist who, starring in her own films, explores issues surrounding lust, trust, and the nature of friendship. Her work has been exhibited at Daniel Silverstein Gallery in New York, and she has been featured in such publications as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Boston Globe. Dorah Malech, who works and stars with Nakadate in one of the films, is a visual artist and writer. She is currently participating in the Iowa Writer’s Workshop Program as a Capote Fellow.

TOM OTTERNESS

A world-renowned public artist who, over the past three decades, has created playfully poetic and recognizable sculptural work for museums, parks and site specific locations in the U.S. and abroad. In New York, his large-scale bronze public art installations are on display at Penny Park in Battery Park City, the A line subway stop at 14th Street and Eighth Avenue, and the Times Square Hilton Hotel, among other locations. His work is in numerous public collections including the Guggenheim Museum, MOMA and the Carnegie Museum of Art. He currently is creating a large public installation at the Beelden aan Zee Museum in the Netherlands. Otterness is represented by Marlborough Gallery in New York.

TXUSPO POYO

An installation and video artist who has exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, and Pamplona, Spain. His work has been included in group exhibitions in the U.S., Cuba and Costa Rica. In 2002, he served as the Art Director at The Erotic Museum in Madrid, Spain. In 2001, he received a grant from the Marcelino Botin Foundation, ISCP Program.

KARIM RASHID

An industrial designer whose creative projects range in scope from furniture, lighting and interior design to fashion, art and music. His clients include Umbra, Issey Miyake, Prada, Nambe, Mikasa, Herman Miller and Giorgio Armani, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards including ID Magazine’s Annual Design Review 2000-2003, Bon Appetit’s 2003 Designer of the Year, and the 2003 National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers’ Best Retail Store Design. His industrial designs and objects are in the permanent collections of major museums in the US and abroad. He is published internationally and has exhibited in major NY galleries.

MABI REVUELTA

An installation artist whose site-specific installations explore the sensual and seductive nature of the body. Her work has been exhibited in Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona and Cuba. In 2000, she created La Torre Herida por el Rayo at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. As a recipient of a grant from Marcelino Botin foundation in 2002, she was invited to New York City as a Fellow at the International Studio Program.

MICHAEL SCHMELLING AND MATTHEW SALACUSE

Photographers who work both collaboratively and independently. Their photographs have appeared in numerous publications including New York Times MagazineElleTimeNylonVibe and Bust. In addition to publishing several art monographs, Schmelling received the Obie Award for Lighting Design of the play Drummer Wanted. Schmelling is represented by Wallspace Gallery in New York. Salacuse works as a freelance photographer for such clients as Matador Records, Sony Music, Platt Design and Universal Music.