Vagina dialogues

PRIOR TO gentrification, Poblacion, Makati City, was a den of iniquity. Red Light, an exhibition on view until the second week of November at Pineapple Lab, acknowledges the seedy history of the gallery’s neighborhood through artworks that spark discussions on prostitution.

Of the 10 pieces on display, the most eye-catching is Slut Machines by artists Billy Bonnevie and Agnes Arellano in collaboration with three French artists, Henri Lamy, Chufy, and Alexander Beretta; and one artist from Senegal, a French colony, Abdoul Khadre Seck.

Requiring audience participation, Slut Machines is composed of a trio of old plaster sculptures modeled on the body of Ms. Arellano, from the navel down. Right below the belly button of each one, is a vagina that accepts coins. “You literally insert [coins] in her pussy,” said Mr. Lamy, as he demonstrated how Slut Machines works (that is, exactly like a slot machine). The coins are provided and viewers are encouraged to use them accordingly. Added Ms. Arellano, “Those are my legs and that’s a slit for a slut.” Also of interest: prior to being repurposed in Slut Machines, these plaster casts were part of piece that featured, in the words of the sculptor, “an army of dicks.”

Behind the coin-accepting sculptures is a painting of Marianne, the bare-breasted icon of the French Republic and symbol of valor, holding aloft the Filipino flag instead of the Tricolour. Mr. Lamy explained that Marianne represents the French Revolution and is often depicted with “thousands of guys following her going up the barricades with the French flag.”

There is, however, a disconnect between juxtaposition of Marianne and sculptures. While Marianne empowers women, the coin-accepting vaginas enslave them. “I’m just saying the truth,” said Ms. Arellano, “in the oldest profession, you are buying sex.” At this point, a young boy started playing with Slut Machines. “For him, it’s just fun. He doesn’t see anything wrong with it. I mean, you buy sex. An Italian feminist also told me: ‘I am not sure I like this idea. You’re a feminist why do you do this?’ I am not really a feminist. I am just saying, I am calling it is it is,” the sculptor continued. “It’s a pun on slut. It’s just a pun. People should make it lighthearted as I do.”

Reducing prostitution to a punchline may bother some people but Ms. Arellano said that Slut Machines should be considered in the context of the entire exhibition. “The whole exercise is to bring this to another level. To bring the whore into a goddess,” said Ms. Arellano, pointing out that Red Light includes another collaboration by the artists behind Slut Machines. Installed high up on a wall on the second floor, Kurukulla, named after the Buddhist goddess of enchantment (said to be the equivalent of Aphrodite), requires observers to raise their heads as if greeting an exalted deity. Kurukulla is the only artwork in this space, reinforcing her power and dominion.

Back on the first floor, Red Light features Portrait of an African Woman I and II, a pair of paintings by guest artist Abdoul Khadre Seck, who is from Senegal but is based in France. Unlike the other paintings of naked women that surround his work, Mr. Seck’s portraits of two fully clothed African women look regal and très chic at the same time. One can imagine these women silently judging their bare-breasted companions and, perhaps, holding back the urge to tell the others to get dressed.

Lumiligo and Garapa by Mr. Lamy are among the nudes in the vicinity of Mr. Seck’s work. Painted on local textiles, they show Filipinas bathing in a river. “It is my reinterpretation of a national artist’s painting,” said Mr. Lamy, who added that he wished to capture the femininity and beauty of women who are “caught in the glimpse not expected, maybe a stolen moment.” Jumping off from these works, one can have productive conversations on voyeurism and the male gaze.

ART AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Red Light is part of Ugnayan sa Poblacion, a program led by Pineapple Lab and Taverne Gutenberg, an artists’ space in Lyon, France, founded by French-Filipina artist and designer Maia d’Aboville and Mr. Lamy, her husband. Taverne Gutenberg flew in three guest artists, Chufy, Alexander Beretta, and Mr. Seck, as part of a two-month residency.

Ugnayan sa Poblacion highlights the role of art in community development. Its activities include free art workshops for partner organizations such as Project Pearls, Virlanie Foundation, Stairway Foundation, and ACAY Missions Philippines, which help Filipino youth and street children. Part of the proceeds of Red Light, in which paintings are priced between €200 and €3,500, will go to these same partner organizations. – Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman