Sexuality And Art-I

You may be really surprised to see something like this out of the blues...
I had been away quite a while and have read and have discussed quite a few about Art and all. These are some precepts, which I feel would interest you.


'Sex' has its own ways of being perceived.
Majority of people still consider it as a 'taboo' to be discussed. But its roots in human personality formation and social behavior cannot be underrated. Similarly, sexuality plays an important role in 'Art' and its perception.


Sigmund Freud has aptly established and illustrated the relation between art, creativity and sexuality through his theories. Very creative people according to him are sexually more active... aggressive also! And he firmly believes that creative people get fixated in their mid-anal stage and their sexual energies get channelized in art forms. Specially painting and drawing.Instances of sexually hyperactive dancers, musicians, are; but few. Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, Esher, Michealangelo come under this category.


It is also seen, that people directly related to the field of arts have higher rate of sexual imbalance and dissatisfaction of the same... probably because of the demerits and characteristics of the field itself! HIgher number of individuals with homosexualityand sexual malattraction are also said to belong to this field. This doesn't mean that other fields are devoid such individuals.


Homosexuality,  cannot be said to be a bane(nor a boon actually!). But it entirely stems out due to the psychological base which has all its roots in the early childhood. 


Scientists say that the higher rate of sexually malfunctioning(according to social boundaries and ethics) is due to the channelized creativity. Hyper activeness, extreme intelligence, different perspectives, etc. qualities in an artist lead to internal aggression and and many times; social nonacceptance,etc leads to an addition of aggressiveness. The aggressiveness, the emotional instability, inner turmoil leads to a fatigue on the brain cells and this affects the psychological setup as a whole.The pressure on the brain eventually results in the pressure on the lower body parts and thus the sex organs are biologically affected. Mal-secretions in these body parts leads to the attainment of sexuality in its gruesome forms.


However, I feel, in-depth study still needs to be conducted highlighting the sexual problems in case of artists and painters; especially in this modern world.


Reading this, one may get an impression that people with stable sexual urges and moderate ways its exhibition cannot be, or are not creative. However, this isn't the case.Those who have achieved ample experience and have devised proper ways to channelize their creativity and attain peace of mind, cannot in any way be underestimated. Actually, these individuals have developed higher mental processes. And if you are one of them, nothing can beat you!


Many times, I used to wonder, why do people indulge themselves in portraying naked masses of flesh and hunt for creativity and masterpieces in them? But as I read on and on, I guess, I am coming close to an answer.


Artists, many times channelize their sexual energy into the forms of colours and lines. Some psychologists say that the dormant sexual urges are expressed through nude-study. Liking of expression through nude figures and depiction through painting the intimate body parts is a sign of high efficiency of channelizing the sexual drive in socially acceptable forms. In the West however, this has been a typical form of depiction of mythological scenes and mythological figures and is considered to be the sign of purity and piousness.


Viewpoints regarding nude study differ considerably. Many however feel, nude study is a sign of weak 'Id', and as in the process of evolution , one must be able to grow above the animal urges and become fit to live and work in the civilized society. Probably that is why the modern artist pontificators have now started depicting nude figures with a strip of cloth barely covering the intimate body parts.


And if nude study is only to be connected with sexual instability, then the pathologists, surgeons must be also labeled as 'perverts' as they too undertake nude study in a truly raw form!


Many artists see nude human forms as signs of simplicity in expression of a composition, clinging firmly to the Freudian concept of relation between sexuality and art expression.


Balance of thought and expression has to be brought about. One can gauge through the art expressions, the mental age of the artist. Freud has enumerated following stages;
Oral: focus on mouth and satisfaction of hunger
Anal: focus on the anal area
Latency: vacuum stage
Genital: focus on the genitals; sex organs


Over or under satisfaction of an individual at each stage leads to social problems and/or fixation of the individual at the particular stage.


I shall come to a deeper discussion of this aspect in my next post. 
But just as a wind up, Sexuality and gender -> Personality and Ego formation-> Expression through art forms .
We actually have little idea about how the human psychology really works and makes us what we seem to the world.
Better understanding of this will definitely make us better humans!