Art, Sex, and Freedom of Expression in Asian Art

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the expressions of sex and sexuality in the contemporary art of three Asian nations: Japan, China, and South Korea. The paper also looks at public and critical reactions to such works of art, in order to gain insight into the role sex and sexual art play in Asian cultures. The paper then points out that to a Western viewer, images of sex in contemporary Asian art are often shocking in their explicitness or sheer strangeness. The paper explains that once we begin to understand the context in which it has emerged, the representation of sex in contemporary Asian art is analogous to our own in the Western world. The paper concludes that sex is clearly a universal area of interest for artists from all over the world. While some nations, such as the Japanese, are free to explore the subject in all its glorious, perverse, and occasionally horrific detail, other nations punish their artists for making the most minor transgressions.

From the Paper:

"In Japanese art, what comes across as shocking to an American audience does not necessarily seem so to the Japanese themselves. This is because the Japanese do not carry the burden of Christian guilt, nor have they been influenced by the Puritan ideals that continue to surface in American discourse. Indeed, the Japanese have a much more open attitude towards sex than any other nation in Asia. Sex in art, however, is often used to challenge accepted modes of discourse in Japanese culture, and is thus considered to be a tool of dissent. This is particularly true for Japanese women artists who wish to challenge the Confucianist idea of women as submissive beings."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Camhi, Leslie. "Infrared Sex Scenes from Japanese Photog Kohei Yoshiyuki." The Village
• Voice, Oct. 2, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2007 from http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0740,camhi,77926,13.html.
• Hoffmann, Frank. "Monoculture and its Discontents." Art in America, Nov. 2000. Retrieved
• November 25, 2007 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_11_88/ai_66888245/pg_3.
• Lloyd, Fran, ed. Consuming Bodies: Sex and Contemporary Japanese Art. London: Reaktion Books, 2004.

More papers on Art, Sex, and Freedom of Expression in Asian Art:

• Argumentative Essay # 32475 : "The Internet and Freedom of Expression"
• Analytical Essay # 143402 : "Freedom Of Expression In Canada"
• Argumentative Essay # 64086 : "Freedom of Expression in Education"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: