English
Georges Bataille announced in the preface of his book The Tears of Eros that his objective was to “raise the awareness about the identity of the orgasm (or small death) and of definitive death”. That’s why the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid lends the title of this work to its new autumn exposition, with erotic art as a topic.
In this exposition, which will be open until 31st of January, we will discover erotic passion and the intimate relationship between the sex drive and death instinct through more then 120 works, from the Renaissance until the present day.
The works of the avant-garde artists communicate with the classical ones: Rodin, Rubens, Warhol, Rousseau, Cézanne and Picasso are all sharing the same wall. Also other, less conventional art forms have their place here. There is for example a video of a sleeping David Beckham, filmed by Sam Taylor Wood in 2004, and an image of Rachel Weisz posing naked with a snake (see photo).
A big part of the exhibition is based on works that show universal myths, such as Adam and Eve, Venus, Andromeda…
This way, a lot of figures and scenes from Jewish-Christian tradition and classical mythology present us a tour in two parts. There is “From temptation to sacrifice” which will go deeper into the signs of death in erotic passion, using works such as the Birth of Venus, Eve and the serpent, the Temptation of St. Anthony and The Kiss. The second section is “Eternal Sleep” which will show us the death or dying like being in a trance, similar to ecstasy of love.
Part of the exhibition is in the Casa de las Alhajas of the Cajamadrid. There they will show death and erotism through paintings of Apolo & Jacinto and Diana & Endimión and through works by Tiepolo, Rubens, Luca Giordano, Marina Abramovic, as well as the above mentioned video of David Beckham.
According to the commissioner, Guillermo Solana, the exhibition “aims to reach the widest possible audience”. For sure this will be the talk of town… Are you not going to be part of it? Enjoy this exciting exposition, and rent the best apartments in Madrid for most economical stay.
