As I wrote about in Part One of this series on sex work and art, sex workers have traditionally been maligned in classical Western art as passive, nude objects to gaze at. And, as I wrote about in Part Two, one of the ways sex workers have reclaimed that gaze is through comics. Comics aren't the only medium, though! Contemporary artists are creating incredible work that depicts sex workers in vibrant, diverse ways. Here are just a few of my favourites.
Reclamation and (Dis)atonement, Juniper Fleming
Juniper Fleming is a multi-disciplinary artist and sex worker in Detroit. In her series “Reclamation and (Dis)atonement”, she inserts herself and her sex worker friends into traditional Western art. Her photographs put sex workers in the place of the women we know from high art: Titian’s “Venus”, Manet’s bartender at “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”. Sex workers become elevated to the place of high art, and at the same time, we’re made to think about the sex workers who were the models for the Western classical masters in the first place. As Fleming says, we’re made to reckon with sex workers as “coveted, condemned, co-opted”. When I look at these photographs, I see sex workers being depicted with great care. Even in paintings where they recreate images that once objectified women, the sex workers are shot in such a way that they are involved in the work. The black, white, and muted colours render these women with dignity and artistry.
InVocation, Midori
“InVocation” is a hemp rope structure that forms a curtain. Handwoven into the rope are objects sourced from queer sex workers. Midori’s inspiration for this artwork came from the Japanese tradition of “blessing and retiring broken hair combs”. Japanese courtesans would treat hair combs and sewing needles as imbibed with spirit and so give them a proper memorial once they were broken, or ready to be retired.
In that spirit, Midori weaves objects into this curtain that were dear to queer sex workers as they performed their labour. It's special to have art that values our labour, and the rituals we perform to complete it, whether it's settling into an incall space in a certain way, or having specific rituals with our cash. When InVocation is installed, it hangs from the ceiling and forms a sort of semi-open structure that anyone can walk into. The structure makes me think of how we cultivate sacred spaces wherever we go.
Freak Gifs, Eva Wu
Eva Wu is a multi-disciplinary sex worker artist in the US. She writes that her work “conjures opulent visions, utopias, alternative dimensions and possibilities of what could be”, to combat shame and sex-negativity. In her series Freak Gifs, a variety of people, including sex workers, lounge in opulent collaged landscapes of deserts, flowers, rock, sea, clouds, rivers, and space. Dressed in finery, kink gear, or sometimes nude, they seem to dance with excess, colour, joy, and sexual energy. In one of my favourites, “I LIKE YOUR ENERGY. I WANT TO EXPERIENCE IT”, the artist stares defiantly while messages from lovers and clients flash by. Not defined by either, or the dove of purity flapping next to her, she is defined only by herself. In all these gifs, the figures command themselves with power, taking up space across these beautiful, imagined landscapes. They conjure joy, relaxation, sexual pleasure, and self-ownership for all members of our community.
Nuestra Suerta En La Arena (Our Blessings in the Sand), Pluma Sumaq
Pluma Sumaq is a sex worker, writer and artist in the US. In this piece she creates an altar to Orishas asking for blessings and money. Candles glow gently on top of money; cash grows out of the ground with conch shells; bills lie bountifully amongst corn and rice. Here, sex work can be a blessing for sex workers. Sex workers can be something holy; a way out of hardship for our lineages and our communities. These images are quiet, and inspire spiritual reflection – a quality that people don’t often associate with us.
Post Porn Modernist, Annie Sprinkle
I hadn’t heard of Annie Sprinkle until I saw an exhibition she was part of in 2019, “On Our Backs: The Revolutionary Art of Queer Sex Work”. In this exhibition at the Leslie Lohman Museum in New York, Annie Sprinkle presented archival snapshots from her extensive career. There were Polaroids, business cards, and jewellery. And, there were shots from her old work – in particular, Post Porn Modernist. Annie Sprinkle made this work in the 1980s, a one-woman show where members of the audience could look at her cervix with a torch. Nowadays, we’re a little more familiar with provocative one-woman shows (such as The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, and the more recent High Steaks by Eloina) but Annie Sprinkle was one of the first to be so explicit with the connection between sex work and performance art! Her influence can be seen all around us in feminist art today.
The Session Series, Khaleb Brooks
What struck me the first time I saw Khaleb Brooks’ incredible lino prints was the sense of calm. At the ICA’s Decriminalised Futures exhibition, three of Brooks’ prints hung by the windows. These are large pieces where the figure poses, gazing back at the viewer. Just like Juniper Fleming challenges Titian and Manet, Brooks asks us to really look at the person in their artwork. To meet their gaze and consider them as a person. At the same time, these figures pose casually, with a sense of ease. It is as though we’ve walked in on them and we have to justify why we’re there, rather than the other way around. Ease, interiority, self assuredness – it's wonderful to see these qualities at an exhibition around sex work.
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
