Suzanne Curran           Art and Objects

In Camera: Arcadecardiff (Queens Arcade), opening exhibition.

In Camera is a term meaning 'in private'. It is also termed 'in chambers' or 'in curia'. 

In Camera: Erotica

An opportunity to 'pop your head' through a piece of classical erotica.

In Camera is a selected history of erotica in art.

Edward Lucie Smith writes in his chapter of introduction ‘Sex in the Head’ for the book Art Erotica:

‘If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, eroticism is on his or her mind. It is not merely what we look at or read but how we perceive it which governs our reactions. Does the image or text stimulate us?

Does it offend us? Does it do both of these things simultaneously? Erotic art and literature have much to tell us about our own human nature as human beings, much to tell us about the actual context in which we live, and much to please the aesthetic sense. We may shut our eyes and close our ears, but they are not going to go away. Eroticism is inextricably part of the fabric of the contemporary world.’

The 'In Camera' concept was created in order to encourage the viewer to engage with images in art history that they may not normally have encountered. It is a playful introduction to classical erotica in art history. Some of the images may not be construed as overtly erotic while others may be.

The viewer/participator is able to select from the series of images and through the use of a traditional fairground peep hole they can become part of the picture and in turn part of the sensual identity that they choose to ‘play’ with.

This (as in the traditional fairground setting) becomes a photo opportunity for the participator. The photo-graphs become part of a collection to form a follow up exhibition.

Sensual identity has been a topic for artists throughout art history, the images selected show the diversity of the context in which they are produced. 

This is a small selection of photographs of the people that participated. 

(Many thanks to Steve and Mike at Dectek for help with formatting and printing.)