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Lucky Gallery Presents Daily Porn From Feb. 13 to March 6 Lucky Gallery will have an exhibit on display entitled Daily Porn, a pornographic bonanza of erotic books, collages, drawings, sculpture and performance by artists Greg Beyer, Will Kurtz, John Lennon, Morgan Miller, Mark Mulroney, Kevin Multh, Tara Sinn, Alix Sorrell and Iulia Toacaci. The exhibit will explore the ever-changing role of pornography in the realm of contemporary art. There will be an opening reception on Feb. 13 from 6 to 9 p.m. No longer confined to the pages of antiquity (Re: Petronius), the erotic has transcended into the world of mainstream media to become a propaganda tool and everyday commodity. Regardless of its highbrow/lowbrow underpinnings, we continue to create, display, question and enjoy images of desire both openly and secretly. From the surreal eroticism of Salvador Dali to the kitsch eroticism of Jeff Koons, erotic art (in all its forms) has always inflamed public opinion. Even today, our supposed relaxation of the codes of behavior often rings false, as images involving nudity and the erotic are considered provocative, dangerous, and unwelcome in the public sphere. Curated by gallery director Laura Arena and artist Iulia Toacaci, Daily Porn aims to explore and define what is erotic and titillating to different creative individuals, displaying a diversity of sensibilities and approaches that range from the humorous and raunchy, to the personal and the intimate. The intent is not to criticize a direction or another, an attitude or a preconceived idea on the existence, the nature, and the social/political and economic implications of sexual imagery. The exhibition is not a reaction to people’s prudeness when it comes to exposure to sexual content and is not actively and consciously trying to educate an audience but instead reinforce something that everybody already knows, whether they agree with or not, accept it or not, that sex and its visual representations have been part of our lives for as long as we can discuss consciousness. To quote Henry Miller “obscenity, like sex, has its natural, rightful place in literature as it does in life.” About the Artists Showing in This Exhibit Greg Beyer Greg Beyer is a Jersey boy that now resides in Brooklyn. A street fighter at heart, he has now turned his energy into making pictures to ponder over. Alicia Hanifin Alicia Hanifin was born in Western Massachusetts where she began her first faux production company at age 12. She attended University of Massachusetts Amherst as a Chancellor Award recipient, received not for her excellent films, but for her painting and drawing skills. In 2004 she graduated with cum laude honors and received her BFA. Upon realizing that her initial interest in film was what she truly desired to pursue she continued her education at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. It is there that she became reunited with film. She began working in the film industry as a production assistant on several large budget features as well as in television soon thereafter.
Will Kurtz Will Kurtz was born in Flint, Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University in 1981. He has practiced as a landscape architect until today. He began creating art as a self-taught artist at the age of 35. He recently returned to school at the New York Academy of Art and graduated with a MFA, magna cum laude at the age of 51. He is currently doing a one-year fellowship at the New York Academy of Art to continue developing his artwork. He lives in Brooklyn. John Lennon John Lennon’s Bag One Portfolio (Bag Productions, 1970, first edition) is a complete set of the Lennon lithographs. Lennon produced the drawings for these lithographs as a wedding gift for Yoko Ono and as a celebration of their new marriage. Eight are erotic, intimate images of himself and Yoko and the rest show scenes from their honeymoon and wedding, including the ceremony itself and the Bed In. The lithographs were first exhibited in January 1970 at the London Arts Gallery and were on sale at £40 each or £550 for the set. On the second day, the exhibition was raided by Scotland Yard, who confiscated the eight erotic lithographs on grounds of indecency.
The case was dismissed when the magistrate decided that Lennon’s prints were ‘unlikely to deprave or corrupt.’ Comprises a complete suite of lithographs, together with title-page and hand-numbered limitation page all housed in the original white vinyl bag. The bag has two white vinyl handles, a white vinyl buckle and a heavy duty zip closure. Morgan Miller Morgan Miller is a California based artist currently living and working in Brooklyn. She received her BA in History of Art and Visual Culture with an emphasis in Semiotics from University of California at Santa Cruz. Miller began her art and curatorial production in 2004. From the start, her work has revolved around portraiture and the nude figure. More recently her oeuvre has expanded into sculpture and site specific installation. Her work is currently published in Editor Magazine and featured in the film Thank You More Please. Mark Mulroney Mark Mulroney was born in 1978 in the town of Dutton, Pennsylvania. The family moved west shortly thereafter following a mild heart attack suffered by Mulroney’s father, Tom, as the result of excessive snow shoveling. Instead of paying attention during class, Mulroney copied his older brothers Iron Maiden album covers in his notebooks using a Ticonderoga #2 pencil. Several years later, and following a two-year long bout with colon cancer, Mulroney’s work changed in a direction that disturbed his mother. The work became more sexual and absurd. Mulroney accounts for this by saying, “Impotence will do a lot to stimulate the imagination.”
Kevin Muth is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born photographer/visual artist who now calls Brooklyn home. He graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 1994 and has had solo shows in Savannah, Georgia; Washington D.C.; San Francisco, California; Santa Cruz, California and Brooklyn. His work focuses on the playful, silly and colorful facets of life, while letting the twisted darker aspects peek out around the corners. Past shows have featured everything from scabulous taxidermy and decaying mannequins from South America to fabulous nightlife characters frolicking in the daylight. His latest work brings together two of his favorite things: ’70s crafts and ’70s porn. His work can be found at www.dirtypillowz.net and www.kevinlmuth.com. Tara Sinn Tara Sinn is California-born artist who lives and works in New York City. Her work includes videos, animation and collage. She recently collaborated with Olivier Mosset on a series of animated kaleidoscopes. An artist zine of her 3-D collages of nudes and sweets called Just Desserts was published by Medium Rare last summer. Her work can be found at www.babydinosaureyes.com.
Alix Sorrell makes dirty drawings on napkins, receipts, toilet paper or anything else she can find at a bar. Based in Brooklyn, she still considers herself a Mass-hole. Sorrell recently graduated from Parsons School of Design where she learned how to use a computer in ways she never imagined. She now feels legit writing “graphic designer” on her business cards. Before her leap into the design world, she was a sushi chef in Montana. When she’s not making stuff you might find her practicing bassoon or trying to cure her tinnitus. You can see her work at www.alixsorrell.com. Iulia Toacaci Iulia O. Toacaci is a Transylvanian born artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. She received her MFA from the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Toacaci finds it most interesting how diverse the relations, reactions and attitudes are to what is erotic, arousing, sensual and sexual, for different creative individuals. Her main goal is to see how she looks in the mirror with her eyes closed. About Lucky Gallery Lucky Gallery is located at 176 Richards Street in the heart of Red Hook Brooklyn. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. and by appointment. Lucky Gallery works with underrepresented and emerging artists looking for a venue to share creativity and ideas in a supportive environment. For information, please contact Laura Arena at laura@luckygallery.com. 
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