Canada is not kind to sensualists. Especially its female ones.
Internationally acclaimed novelist Barbara Gowdy was still called a “bad girl” well into her career and long after the publication of her early, quirkily lewd stories. Pop singer Carole Pope fled to LA after years of being manhandled in the media for her overtly sexual material, while performance artist Shannon Bell endured her own media shitstorm for daring to offer seminars on the female orgasm. Our womenfolk are best advised to keep their desires hidden under thick, muffling Hudson’s Bay blankets.
If the mainstream media paid any attention to visual artists, what would it say about Eliza Griffiths, the Larry Clark of figurative painters? How would it process her openly, indeed brazenly sexual images of horny youth and gender-blending, topless tarts? Are we ready for her dream world full of sticky kisses, bruised makeup and cum-flecked back seats? Can the polite classes handle all her white-trash-in-heat glamour?
So begins our Spring 2002 cover story. To keep reading, view a PDF of the entire article.
