You'd think that sexuality and nudity in today's culture would no longer be taboo, but somehow, when Rihanna rocks a see-through dress at the CFDAs in 2014, people still freak the f**k out. In the art world, one performance artist recently flashed visitors in a museum to imitate Courbet's The Origin of the World, and another "gave birth" to a painting while completely naked at an art fair, showing that sex and nudity are continually being used (in extremely calculated ways) to communicate impactful (and over-the-top) statements.
So when is something artfully sensual vs. needlessly pornographic? Despite the endlessly controversial displays of nudity throughout art history, the answer is still painfully ambiguous. Often, explicit pieces (like the ones of the aforementioned performance artists) seem like they were made to spark controversy, just like Rihanna's see-through dress. But that doesn't mean there are no lessons to be learned from how shocked the public gets when it all goes down.
Try not to philosophize too hard and check out 15 Sex-Themed Art Exhibitions That Shocked the Public.
