Artistes femmes et travail du sexe

It may come as a surprise to you, but many artists have worked in the sex industry: Sophie Calle as a stripper in La Fille du Docteur, Caroline Coon paints her Brothel Series, Cosey Fanni Tutti edits porn magazines, and Annie Sprinkle demonstrates that the roles of pin-up and ordinary woman are interchangeable. Maïa Izzo-Foulquier’s photographs depict non-idealised male nudity, whilst Romy Alizée’s explore lesbian eroticism. Pennie Key creates art as a fetish wrestler, and the dominatrix Reba Maybury forces her male slaves to create art! Today, female artists and sex workers produce works that challenge the visual language of ‘available women’, as established by male artists in the 19th century and before. They embrace female pleasure and offer alternative visions of masculinity. By studying the lives and achievements of these artists, the blind spots in contemporary representations of women are brought to light.

Sofia Kouloukouri holds master’s degrees in film studies (Auth, GR), fine art (Edhea, CH) and art history (Unige, CH). Her academic research focuses on art and sex as domains of exceptionality where gender, idealism, recognition and exploitation collide. She has taught screenwriting at HEAD-Geneva. Her articles have been published by Nero Éditions, Miami Books, The Art Newspaper and Vogue (GR).