Regina art show's graphic eroticism had a point

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The man standing in front of the painting began to fidget uncomfortably, slowly collecting his thoughts. He edged closer to read the story behind the art work with his head nodding in recognition.

Soon he began to smile, studying the painting of a naked couple making love. It became clear what he was looking at.

The MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina hosted an erotic Aboriginal art show last month - entitled Love and Sex - that both shocked and rocked a lot of people, something the organizers hoped would happen.

The shocking began early in the evening when Aboriginal poet laureate, Louise Halfe, launched into verse. The self-proclaimed trickster used four-letter words that describe male and female genitalia to stir up emotions - or passions.

Either way, most of the 300 liberal-minded people attending were familiar with that kind of language (or were stone deaf) because nobody seemed offended.

"People dirty talk all the time," said Halfe. "I believe in breaking rules. We have to break out of our prisons."

She says as a young girl many of the old ladies in her community would often talk quite frankly about sex. As a result, Halfe says all she's doing is reclaiming what Aboriginal people are all about and that's being comfortable with sexuality, something that was stripped away by European institutions, she says.

But the poetry was only the foreshadowing of what was to come following the opening pleasantries.

When Regina's artsy crowd went inside the gallery a bright blue picture of a young man and an old lady entangled in a web of passion met them near the door.

At first glance it was grotesque and offending but after closer observation it soon became apparent what the artist intended.

"I have other pieces that are much more smutty and graphic," said Ray McCallum, the artist who created the painting of Wesakejak and the Old Lady. He says originally the painting was done in tones of red but it cast a really hot, explicit scene. So McCallum toned it down and used a cooler shade of blue.

It's the story of the Cree trickster Wesakejak and how he tried to get the upper hand with an old lady's daughter, said McCallum. But really it's the old lady who gets the better of him, he added.

Walking around the exhibit looking and appreciating the work is Judy Robinson. She says McCallum's work is just two people having fun, having intercourse.

"It's something different. We need to see more of it," she said. "A lot of it is funny and humorous."

Lee-Ann Martin, head curator at the McKenzie Art Gallery, said when she first took the job last March she wanted to put on a show like this. Martin is a Mohawk from the Tyendinega Territory in Quebec. She said in the Aboriginal community there are many erotic stories and erotic depictions in some of the ceremonies.

"We knew many artists who have been creating works like this that have never been shown," she said. "Because of the Euro-Canadian, Christian moral standards that had a difficult time dealing with issues of sexuality."

During discussions with people in the community, Martin says she found that the people who escaped residential schools were far more comfortable with sexuality than people who attended the church run institutions.

"Many people who went to residential school were forced to replace their Aboriginal cultures with the dominant Euro-Canadian society," Martin said. "Which had this very strange view of sexuality."

Martin says the show is about reclaiming Aboriginal sexuality by striking a chord in some people and making them laugh.

And judging from the smiles and giggles by the viewing audience the show accomplished exactly that.