1 July marks the fiftieth year since the ban on image-based pornography was lifted in Denmark. To mark the occasion, ARoS museum in the Danish city of Aarhus is exploring art’s complicated relationship with porn in the last fifty years: you can expect plenty of the explicit stuff (Jeff Koons, Betty Tompkins, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noẻ, Tom of Finland), plenty of funny and political stuff (Sarah Lucas, Valie Export, Cindy Sherman, Lawrence Weiner) and some very socially-awkward stuff too (step forward Amalia Ulman). It’s incredible to think how much has changed in the way we consume porn since 1969, and how much sexual identity in Europe has shifted; the kind of sex we’re having, what we find sexy, and the way we access sex, has undoubtedly been revolutionized by the Internet. Given the fraught gender politics of the day, this show is a frank discussion at the right time. And, as Monica Bonvicini’s brilliant 2016 light-work suggests, art is often wank. Art and Porn at ARoS, until 8 September 2019.
