We all know the premise ‘sex sells.’ And it’s true, of course. But sex goes beyond some easy marketing tools. It’s also about pleasure, joy, connection. It can be about reproduction, about human rights, about inclusion. And, naturally, it can also be about art. That’s what the Museum of Sex in NYC has been championing for over twenty years. Last October though, the cultural institution opened its largest and most ambitious project to date: a second location — only this time, in Miami. And that’s where we head to discover the impressive exhibition Desire Machines by Hajime Sorayama.
The Florida city is known for its strong commitment to the arts, and it’s home to a vast array of art galleries, museums, private foundations and collections, as well as the Art Basel Miami art fair. In this packed landscape, now there’s a hotspot to visit: the Museum of Sex. Daniel Gluck, Executive Director and Founder of Museum of Sex, comments: “We are excited to reach this major milestone in our history and to bring our vision to the vibrant cultural landscape of Miami. Our inaugural programming perfectly embodies our ambitions to be a thought-provoking forum around sex and sexuality, and to bring a unique, beloved, and critically acclaimed cultural offering to Miami.”
This inaugural programming includes three different exhibits: the blockbuster installation Superfunland, the educative Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency, and the impressive Hajime Sorayama: Desire Machines. It’s the latter that we want to talk about — we can’t help but love the Japanese artist’s sensual works! Made in collaboration with Tokyo’s Nanzuka gallery, this marks the Japanese artist and illustrator’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States.
Since the late 1970s, Sorayama has crafted a universe filled with sensuality and eroticism. The characters enjoying different pleasures and living their happiest, horniest lives are anthropomorphic robots that engage in sexual acts together or alone — in the exhibit, there are paintings of masturbation scenes with dildos, as well as less explicit scenes of kissing and hugging. The major solo show also includes four large-scale ‘sexy robot’ sculptures, as well as twenty never-before-seen erotic paintings.
Throughout the decades, and as robots and machines have become a part of our lives, Sorayama’s visionary work has posed questions around who (or what) feels desire and is desired. It’s interesting to see what we perceive as sexual or sexy beyond the human body, and how art can spark our imagination in that regard. His approach to sexual fantasy is particularly relevant now — when the real and the virtual are indistinguishable, and when sex robots, AI companions and virtual celebrities are more science than fiction.
Untitled, 2020 ©Hajime Sorayama - Courtesy of NANZUKA.
Untitled, 2020 ©Hajime Sorayama - Courtesy of NANZUKA.
Untitled, 2020 ©Hajime Sorayama - Courtesy of NANZUKA.
