by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
It has never been so socially acceptable in America to spend your evening looking at breasts. The art world has always questioned the norms of society. There have been myriad jokes about being in an art class to get to paint the naked lady. Adolescent boys have always made their way through museums looking for a glimpse of the mammaries. And “art film” has long been code to many for “softcore porn.” So although bare breasts are something common in art, how often are they the lusty busts of famous burlesque dancers?
In the Casa Monica Hotel this past Friday the world’s biggest burlesque dancer, Candy Caramelo, came from Las Vegas (via Spain) to St. Augustine to give a local art enthusiast a lap dance. This wasn’t your everyday party at the swanky Santa Monica Hotel, this was the Keep A Breast Foundation’s Breast Defense exhibit brought to the First Friday Art Walk in St. Augustine by The Gallery at Screen Arts.
Gallery owner Rob DiPiazza has long been casual acquaintances with the likes of such rock icons as Mark Mothersbaugh (formerly of Devo), as well as world-famous artists such as Derek Hess and KRK Ryden. So when the First Friday organizers told Rob they wanted to do something for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Rob got on the phone and called up a list of some of his favorite artists and got them together with the Keep A Breast Foundation to put on a Breast Defense Art Show. The first Breast Defense Art Show happened back in 2001, according to Erica Leite, one of the founders of the organization. They have done many of them all over the world, but this is North Florida’s first.
Breast Defense started when Erica and the Foundation co-founder, Shaney Jo Darden, went to the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas and made plaster casts of some of the institution’s most notorious racks. These busts were then sent to the participating artists for their own vision to be applied. Artists in the St. Augustine event included Kim Gordon (from Sonic Youth), Iggy Pop, George Long, Gary Baseman, Sarah Emerson, Attaboy, Annie Owens, KRK Ryden, Mark Mothersbaugh, PJ Fidler, Tonya Lee, R. Land, Gabriel Shaffer, Joe Coleman, Molly Crabapple, Mitch O’Connell, and Derek Hess, whose piece sold in a private auction on Thursday for $10,000. The show also included local artists Ian Chase, Mark George, Tony Rodrigues and St. Augustine painter David Cutter, among others.
From Ian Chase’s very contemporary video-rendering of his bust getting crushed in a press to Kim Gordon’s utterly simplistic black, glittery “X” put onto the white cast, each artist had a very unique idea about the message of the show, the cost of breast cancer, and the value of boobs to the human condition. In fact the Keep A Breast Foundation’s shirts all read “boobies!” Erica Leite admitted that this particular slogan was probably not the most popular one for the older, more conservative St. Augustine crowd, but the message was hardly understated at the event. This art is all about the boobs.
Each bust was displayed on a pedestal and featured a bio of the artist adjacent to their own work. Many of the artists offered humorous bios. Iggy Pop stated that “sometimes he gets tricked into participating in these charity events.”
Describing each of these would be nearly impossible, so you will have to go to The Gallery at Screen Arts this week and see them for yourselves before they go on a national tour. The national tour will end in Las Vegas and then the busts will be auctioned off live and online in Los Angeles.
Go to keep-a-breast.org for more informationa about the Foundation and the event, or call Screen Arts at (904) 826-0000.
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