The transgressive exhibition attempting to diversify erotica

Welcome to The Museum of Sex; where the polygonal, kawaii-filtered image of Boris Johnson sits side-by-side a bi-pronged sex toy, and where intimate shots inside the UK’s largest sauna and swinger’s club are followed by an even steamier miniature depiction of a sauna-slash-orgy. For exhibition curator and SMUT photobook founder Ezekiel, this almost comical juxtaposition is deliberate. The collection aims to highlight the full spectrum of erotic art while also poking fun at a fundamental aspect of human nature that society insists on taking so seriously.

“Since the inception of SMUT, one of our main goals was and is to diversify the landscape of erotica,” Ezekiel tells Dazed in the run up to the event. “It was important for me to curate an excitingly diverse cast of artists who create work through unfamiliar and unique points of view that we haven’t necessarily seen before”.

Comprising contributors from around the world and across mediums, The Museum of Sex’s diverse collection of photos, objects and films speaks to a pluralism in love and sex, and a refusal to conform to their traditional representations. “SMUT is essentially a queer publication which is inherently transgressive,” Ezekiel explains. “Whether that be undermining our largely heterosexual visual culture or the incredibly white-dominated publishing industry, I distinctly wanted to collaborate with artists who shared the same values.”

For Ezekiel and the others, consideration of these mainstream pressures permeates every stage of their practice. “Funnily enough, most of the artists involved are either currently or have been shadow banned by Instagram for ‘violating community guidelines’.” It’s the reason why the exhibition poster is blurred (being virtually unshareable otherwise) and a driving force behind the project.

“It does slightly worry me that these platforms sort of guide society’s moral compass nowadays – what’s ‘right’ and what’s ‘wrong’ within the art world – and many artists are now scared to make any sort of explicit or honest work out of the very real fear of being banned and losing their audience, and in turn their income,” Ezekiel elaborates. “I truly hope we move past this nonsense one day, and get back to mainly experiencing art, especially erotic art, IRL.”

“My motivation for SMUT and projects like this one stem from my instinctive desire to stick a middle finger up to the institutions and people that have historically shunned or othered us” – Ezekiel

Fortunately, The Museum of Sex’s IRL space is as eclectic as its subject matter. The exhibition is located in an old Victorian house-turned-gallery Safehouse 1, a fitting home for such a curio-coded name like The Museum of Sex. “The title sounds like something an old institution would name this exhibition – quite formal and serious when it’s really not,” says Ezekiel.

The space was arranged with the help of publishers Duende, long-time supporters of the SMUT series. “We were drawn to the different textures of the walls and floors, and also how it includes a variety of rooms and nooks that invite the audience to explore not only the space but also the pieces of work among it,” says Ezekiel. “It’s very different to your standard white-walled space, but we believe that it will compliment the variety of work on display beautifully, and allow us to be a bit more playful.”

Throughout their career, Ezekiel has sought to explore and platform the beautifully complicated worlds of sex and queer love, and this mission is now more important than ever. “We’re living in a time where conservatism is on an upward trajectory, even in the art world, which still very much struggles to see the value in or support work related to sex or sexuality,” they write. “My motivation for SMUT and projects like this one stem from my instinctive desire to stick a middle finger up to the institutions and people that have historically shunned or othered us (‘us’ meaning the queer community, trans communities, sex workers) whilst secretly desiring and admiring what we do.” The fact that this middle finger comes in the form of kawaii BoJo is even better.

The Museum of Sex launches at Safehouse 1, London on June 20, 2024.