Erotic art has a history of being hushed, censored, or flat out destroyed.
Secret Museums, playing at FilmBar for the rest of the week, is taking a more public approach.
The subtitled documentary travels through the excavated streets of Pompeii, and the carefully guarded shelves of private collectors (and the hidden vaults of the Vatican) and pulls back the curtain on art not often viewed by the public.
Throughout the film, rare images of erotic art are unveiled on screen through a tight, fast-moving narrative centered on interviews with private collectors, museum curators, librarians, and art historians who comment that while pornography may be a few clicks away online, the works of Picasso are still locked away because of nudity, or sexual content.
Secret Museums takes a look at the art's gatekeepers and so-called public morality judges who've chiseled and covered countless "private parts" of masterful statues with oh-so-subtle fig leaves. (They later to cataloged and stored all the
severed penises into little boxes to gather dust for a hundred years.)
Secret Museums exposes that there are secrets like this, and more, everywhere ... and invites us inside to take a look.
Secret Museums exposes that there are secrets like this, and more, everywhere ... and invites us inside to take a look.
The 77-minute documentary is at FilmBar, 815 N. Second St., Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 18, at 3 p.m.. Visit www.thefilmbarphx.com for ticket info, or call 602-595-9187.
