"Poster Girl is a series of works by influential graphic artist Jasper Goodall, that explore themes of fetish and fantasy. Whilst the work itself can be seen as erotic art, it is equally about looking at the world of fetish and erotica with an appreciative yet critical eye. It is erotic art but it is also about erotic art - the images are a result of Goodall's musings on erotica and sexual fetish.
Much erotica and pornography, because it's very nature is to be risqué to the wider community and because many still see it as taboo, doesn't have to try too hard to be interesting. Our feelings of arousal, guilt or discomfort when viewing a sexual image means that erotic art in it's basic form - voyeurism of the sexual figure and or the sexual act, is fascinating in itself. This fact, Goodall believes, has lead to much repetition both in imagery and subject.
Sexual proclivities and fetishes (and the resultant artwork/photography) seem to follow certain themes that are sometimes repeated so often they become sexual clichés.
Some of the pieces on display here are purely about Goodall's interest in the fetishisation of otherwise innocent materials like rubber and PVC. Or about how the colour pink has become associated with sexy-ness (along with it's sexual partner black) and how the shininess of polished latex becomes almost fluid in it's texture when stretched over a body. Shininess itself seems to have become sexy, whether it's on a human body (suggesting lubrication) or whether it's a shiny new car or i-phone, people often refer to shiny objects as being sexy.
The images are made in part from photographs of nail polish, to visually refer to sexual fluids, lubrication, and sweetness as well as referencing glamour and self decoration.
Other images are less direct and are a response to notions in sex and fetish that result in clichéd role-play. For example the naughty nurse, the naughty nun, the kinky policewoman, the innocent shepherdess, the cheerleader, the schoolgirl etc.
All these often repeated themes/costumes/fetishes interestingly share similar ideas: either innocence corrupted, mothering turned sexual or authority and power bent or discarded in sexual abandon.
'Bad Bambi' is a re-working of the idea of the chaste nun, shepherdess, schoolgirl or cheerleader, falling from innocence. These fetishes all focus on the sexual thrill imagined in the corruption of the chaste or innocent.
It is a re-presentation of these clichés, what Bambi might have turned out like when she grew up and lost her innocence. She has the same surprised expression first seen on many 50's pin up girls' faces when they are shocked and surprised at their own naughtiness or when witnessing a suggestive act. The implication in these images is that the subject's shocked look is as much about their illicit enjoyment and guilt in whatever is taking place as it is about the act itself.
Innocence's opposite fetish, dominance, is represented here by the animal and the Gorgon - sometimes seen as a symbol of the dangerous fascination exerted by woman, with her deadly stare and mysterious hair, or by classical scholars as a symbol of divine femininity. Possibly derived from an actual ritual mask, it is thought that the head of Medusa was used in early matriarchal societies to keep men at a safe distance from sacred ceremonies and mysteries reserved for women. The fetish of the dominant, aggressive female who has become goddess-like in her being is as often repeated as the submissive or corrupted innocent.
The pieces are all of a model holding an image in front of her. This device references peoples' ideas of fantasy and reality. Dressing for sex, and indeed any dressing up - be it for a party or for more kinky reasons, is all about creating an image. With our clothes we create a persona; in sexual dressing that persona more often than not brings the dresser and viewer closer to those ideas involved in sexual fantasy (some being the often repeated fantasies of lost innocence and corruption mentioned above). For a period, the world stops being reality and your fantasy is made real, only to evaporate again in the morning..."
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