Erotic City
40 Great Jones Street, New York, NY
Curated by Martha Edelheit
March 13 – April 26, 2025
EROTIC CITY
Helen Beard
Shut Up and Kiss Me, 2023
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.
120 x 120 cm.
Eric Firestone Gallery is pleased to present Erotic City, a group exhibition of over forty artists, curated by Martha Edelheit. Edelheit (b. 1931, New York, NY) is a pioneering artist whose work confronts dominant art historical paradigms, foregrounding female gaze and desire. Her lush and vivid work is at once critical, sensual, and humorous. An important voice for feminist art, she is known for both her frank depictions of sexuality and her insistence on their place within an art historical tradition and society. Edelheit, who has been represented by Eric Firestone Gallery since 2018, lived in Sweden from 1993 until 2024. Now in her 90s she once again lives and works in New York City.
Rosalyn Drexler
Hooker, 1963
acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
9 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.
25.1 x 22.6 cm.
Edelheit writes of Erotic City:
What is the difference between pornography and erotic art? I’m 93 years old. In our culture it wouldn’t be unusual to ask what someone my age is doing curating an erotic exhibition. While it may not be common knowledge, most of my peers still have erotic lives, some more active than others. Behind that sometimes bent and wrinkled exterior a very intense sensory life can still be functioning. Since the 1960s I’ve been doing work that has been called erotic. I never set out to do erotic drawings. I never thought of my work as erotic. I was drawing amusing stories I made up for myself. I can’t do these drawings, or stories, on demand. They happen to me. In 1959–60 a friend showed me his copy of the Japanese Pillow Book. It was my first encounter with erotica and it profoundly affected my imagination and art making. It is still the lens through which I view erotic art. A writer of novels once stated that “pornography is a book you read with one hand.” Erotic works are images and writings you can also look at with one hand. Concepts of the erotic and pornographic change over time, and reflect the culture and politics of the era. Religion and politics define what is and isn’t pornography or erotica. The erotic novels of D.H. Lawrence were condemned as pornography when first published. When I was twelve or thirteen years old the erotic book being passed under the desks in my public school was “Gone With the Wind”.
Eunice Golden
Dreamscape #6, 1979
mixed media on paper
18 x 24 in.
45.7 x 61 cm.
I think of pornography as cold, abusive, nonconsensual, painful, humiliating, mean, degrading, clinical. Pornography is a commercial endeavor. Money is exchanged for specific services rendered, either in person, film, books, pictures. It often supplies services for what is sometimes called deviant needs…..punishment, pain, humiliation, infantile fantasies. Stomping, spanking, beating, binding, hitting, exposing, choking, submission to a dominating person, or dominating someone else. It has a much clearer delineation than erotica.
Tom of Finland
Untitled (Preparatory Drawing), c.1981
graphite on paper
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
29.2 x 21 cm.
I think of the erotic as sensual, nonviolent, consensual, warm, inviting, sometimes funny, witty, amusing. Erotica can include some of the pornographer's stock in trade, but it is lighter in touch, sometimes humorous, often witty, and aesthetically pleasurable. Erotica assumes shared association, touching, stroking, licking, looking, playing, exposing….it digresses, teases, laughs, arouses, without harming.
Genitalia, vaginas, breasts, and penises are not pornographic or erotic. They are normal mammal body parts, usually used in reproduction. They depend on context to become pornographic or erotic.
While pornography will arouse, it will not delight. Pornography can give immediate physical relief. Erotica can arouse but it also can give lasting aesthetic pleasure on many levels.
I hope this small selection of what I and the Eric Firestone Gallery consider erotic imagery will give you, the viewers, that experience.
Didier William
Take it Off, 2025
acrylic, oil, ink, wood carving on panel
50 x 40 in.
127 x 101.6 cm.
Martha Edelheit has selected over fifty artists who express this vision of the erotic, with works ranging from the 1950s to the present. Erotic City includes both historic and contemporary artists and showcases artists whose sensual work would immediately come to mind—such as Joan Semmel and Marilyn Minter—alongside artists for whom the erotic has been a significant, though not always highlighted, focus. A public program related to the exhibition will be announced soon, for further exploration of its themes. We invite you to join us for the opening reception on March 13, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The curator, Martha Edelheit, with her Three Academic Male Nudes study (c. 1974). Image featured in Viva Magazine with article by Lynda Crawford, "Women in the Erotic Arts," January 1974. Courtesy of the Estate of Gianfranco Gorgoni. Photo by Gianfranco Gorgoni © Maya Gorgoni.
Erotic City
Curated by Martha Edelheit
Eric Firestone Gallery, 40 Great Jones St, New York, NY
March 13 – April 26, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13, 6:00-8:00PM
Kim Levin
ACTION PAINTING V, 1979
oil on linen, 4 panels
10 x 10 in.
25.4 x 25.4 cm.
(KLEV008)
Marilyn Minter
Thigh Gap, 2016
enamel on metal
72 x 86 1/2 in.
182.9 x 219.7 cm.
(MARMIN001)
Lauren dela Roche
Raw Milk, 2025
acrylic on found cotton feedsack and acrylic varnish
78 x 89 in.
198.1 x 226.1 cm.
(LDRO057)
Rosalyn Drexler
Hooker, 1963
acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
9 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.
25.1 x 22.6 cm.
(ROSD001)
Helen Beard
Shut Up and Kiss Me, 2023
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.
120 x 120 cm.
(HELBE001)
Didier William
Take it Off, 2025
acrylic, oil, ink, wood carving on panel
50 x 40 in.
127 x 101.6 cm.
(DIWI001)
Jane Dickson
Live Girls – Knee Up, 1993
oil and rolotex on canvas
38 x 38 in.
96.5 x 96.5 cm.
(JADICK001)
Paul Cadmus
Reclining Nude NM137, c.1974
crayon on paper
8 x 12 5/8 in.
20.3 x 32.1 cm.
(PACA001)
Kathy Ruttenberg
It's All in the Mind, 2023
ceramic stoneware
10 1/2 x 10 x 10 in.
26.7 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm.
(KATRUT001)
Keith Mayerson
Love Triumphant (James Dean in a Tree), 2013-2014
oil on linen
68 x 45 in.
172.7 x 114.3 cm.
(KEMA002)
Katerina Janeckova Walshe
To Do List, 2024
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 in.
101.6 x 76.2 cm.
(KJW001)
Lara Schnitger
The Artist is a Fountain, 2023
fabric collage on canvas
84 x 70 in.
213.4 x 177.8 cm.
(LARAS001)
Laurie Simmons
Color Pictures/Deep Photos (Staircase/Orange Wall/Chair), 2007-2022
ink jet, resin, and wood
13 x 10 3/4 x 3 in.
33 x 27.3 x 7.6 cm.
(LASIM001)
Martha Edelheit
Ladies Day in the Country, 2015
ink and watercolor on rice paper
10.0h x 12.0w in
24.13h x 30.48w cm
(MEDE396)
Mia Weiner
devotion, 2024
handwoven cotton, acrylic, silk, wool, and mylar
24 1/2 x 24 1/2 in.
62.2 x 62.2 cm.
(MIWE002)
Rose Nestler
Ballet Bag, 2021
upcycled leather, thread, neoprene mesh, polyester filling, zipper, hardware, aluminium bar
55 1/4 x 77 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.
140 x 195.9 x 65.1 cm.
(RONE001)
Sal Salandra
Present It, 2023
mixed threads on grid canvas
15 x 23 in.
38.1 x 58.4 cm.
(SALSA001)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (Preparatory Drawing), c.1981
graphite on paper
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
29.2 x 21 cm.
(TOMFIN001)
Hannah Wilke
So Help Me Hannah, 1978
b and w photograph
14 x 11 in.
35.6 x 27.9 cm.
(WILKE001)
Marilyn Minter
Thigh Gap, 2016
enamel on metal
72 x 86 1/2 in.
182.9 x 219.7 cm.
(MARMIN001)
Rosalyn Drexler
Hooker, 1963
acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
9 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.
25.1 x 22.6 cm.
(ROSD001)
Helen Beard
Shut Up and Kiss Me, 2023
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.
120 x 120 cm.
(HELBE001)
Didier William
Take it Off, 2025
acrylic, oil, ink, wood carving on panel
50 x 40 in.
127 x 101.6 cm.
(DIWI001)
Lauren dela Roche
Raw Milk, 2025
acrylic on found cotton feedsack and acrylic varnish
78 x 89 in.
198.1 x 226.1 cm.
(LDRO057)
Kim Levin
ACTION PAINTING V, 1979
oil on linen, 4 panels
10 x 10 in.
25.4 x 25.4 cm.
(KLEV008)
Sal Salandra
Present It, 2023
mixed threads on grid canvas
15 x 23 in.
38.1 x 58.4 cm.
(SALSA001)
Martha Edelheit
Ladies Day in the Country, 2015
ink and watercolor on rice paper
10.0h x 12.0w in
24.13h x 30.48w cm
(MEDE396)
Tom of Finland
Untitled (Preparatory Drawing), c. 1981
graphite on paper
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
29.2 x 21 cm.
(TOMFIN001)
Keith Mayerson
Love Triumphant (James Dean in a Tree), 2013-2014
oil on linen
68 x 45 in.
172.7 x 114.3 cm.
(KEMA002)
Jane Dickson
Live Girls – Knee Up, 1993
oil and rolotex on canvas
38 x 38 in.
96.5 x 96.5 cm.
(JADICK001)
Laurie Simmons
Color Pictures/Deep Photos (Staircase/Orange Wall/Chair), 2007-2022
ink jet, resin, and wood
13 x 10 3/4 x 3 in.
33 x 27.3 x 7.6 cm.
(LASIM001)
Hannah Wilke
So Help Me Hannah , 1978
b and w photograph
14 x 11 in.
35.6 x 27.9 cm.
(WILKE001)
Kathy Ruttenberg
It's All in the Mind, 2023
ceramic stoneware
10 1/2 x 10 x 10 in.
26.7 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm.
(KATRUT001)
Mia Weiner
devotion, 2024
handwoven cotton, acrylic, silk, wool, and mylar
24 1/2 x 24 1/2 in.
62.2 x 62.2 cm.
(MIWE002)
Rose Nestler
Ballet Bag, 2021
upcycled leather, thread, neoprene mesh, polyester filling, zipper, hardware, aluminium bar
55 1/4 x 77 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.
140 x 195.9 x 65.1 cm.
(RONE001)
Katerina Janeckova Walshe
To Do List, 2024
acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 in.
101.6 x 76.2 cm.
(KJW001)
Lara Schnitger
The Artist is a Fountain, 2023
fabric collage on canvas
84 x 70 in.
213.4 x 177.8 cm.
(LARAS001)
Paul Cadmus
Reclining Nude NM137, c.1974
crayon on paper
8 x 12 5/8 in.
20.3 x 32.1 cm.
(PACA001)