Sex Paintings
April 26 – May 31, 2025
For the first time in France, Galerie Bremond Capela (formerly cadet capela) presents a major exhibition dedicated to Betty Tompkins, a key figure in contemporary art and a pioneer in the representation of female
Vues d’installation
À propos de l’exposition
For over fifty years, the American artist has challenged conventions by appropriating erotic imagery and transforming it into monumental and delicate works.
Her iconic Fuck Paintings series, initiated in 1969, repurposes intimate body fragments, turning them into compositions that verge on abstraction, where the painterly material reveals a raw sensuality devoid of fetishization.
Through her hyperrealistic treatment of blur and texture, Betty Tompkins questions the boundaries between eroticism and abstraction, confronting the viewer with the power of the image itself. Long censored and overlooked in an art world dominated by the male gaze, Tompkins continued her work with unwavering determination. Rediscovered in the 2000s, thanks to a growing interest in feminist art and the reassessment of marginalized artists, she is now celebrated for her vital role in deconstructing taboos and reclaiming female desire.
NOTE
This unprecedented exhibition revolves around Censored Painting #2 (Paris 1973 - Instagram 2019), a work inspired by the turbulent fate of Fuck Painting #1 (1969). Seized by customs and banned from entering France in 1973, this early piece was recently censored again—this time by Instagram—underscoring how little societal norms have evolved when it comes to the visibility of the female body. In an ironic twist, Fuck Painting #1 is now carefully preserved in the collections of the Centre Pompidou.
Yet, its recent censorship highlights that despite an apparent broadening of discourse around sexuality and freedom of expression, depictions of the female body remain subject to the same prohibitions as decades ago. Bremond Capela is pleased to present eleven major works from the Fuck Paintings, Pussy Paintings, and Sex Paintings series, showcasing the breadth of Tompkins’ committed artistic practice. Her style, akin to photorealism, combines airbrush techniques with soft pastel backgrounds, occasionally incorporating misogynistic texts that she subverts to expose their absurdity.
Détails de l’exposition
- Dates
- April 26 – May 31, 2025
- Lieu
-
Bremond Capela
13 rue Béranger, 75003 Paris - Artiste
- Betty Tompkins
- Photographie
- Nicolas Brasseur