A series of erotic figurines by American artist Jessica Lichtenstein is on show at Gallery Nine5 in New York.
Called Undressed, the installation displays over 25 semi-nude female characters in a range of scenarios from serving food, to sitting on the toilet, to fighting off miniature soldiers.
The exhibition continues until 15 February.
Here’s some information from the gallery:
–
Gallery nine5 is pleased to present ‘Undressed’, an exhibition of recent works by Jessica Lichtenstein.
While studying art history at Yale University, Lichtenstein became fascinated with representations of femininity and the use of eroticism as a narrative device.
“I love looking at the way women have been depicted from classic times to modern times- from Botticelli’s rotund figures, to Fragonard’s playful yet overly ornate figures, to Ingre’s elongated Odalisque, to Picasso’s abstract sharpest patterns.
They all show one theme- women and their sexuality- yet it is expressed in so many different styles.”
Japanese manga and anime are strong influences on Lichtenstein’s work and serve as vital conduits in her exploration of ‘twisted’ childhoods and lost innocence.
Lichtenstein subverts objects synonymous with youth, in order to imbue them with new associations and richer meanings.
Citing her rigorous education in art history and classic literature as the most formative influences on her stylistic development, Lichtenstein also draws inspiration from New York’s pervading art scene and her conception of the ‘amorphous and cross-cultural’ nature of contemporary art.
Central to Lichtenstein’s artistic practice in her exploration of the act of viewing.
Each of her anime figures is conscious that she is being offered to the audience for examination.
The highly stylised poses convey self-awareness and confidence, as Lichtenstein strives to vest each girl with an innate sense of empowerment and shared experience.
Each vignette in Lichtenstein’s Installation functions as a slate upon which the viewer can project his or her own aspirations and fantasies.
Lichtenstein’s work can be found in private collection in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Nice, Spain, New York, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, London, Paris and Madrid.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:36 am
best dezeen post, ever.
. . . . first.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:57 am
I really don’t see how using existing japanese manga toys and put them on a pedestal can be called art. Not much creativity going on…
January 26th, 2010 at 5:12 am
Sexy…….too sexy for toy…
January 26th, 2010 at 6:39 am
Why hentai figurines when you are an American? Are you Murakami? Are you western Otaku? By providing it comparable to Picasso’s and Ingres only making it lamer and more nonsense.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Fantastical fantasy work, I like the sociology- psychological edge, as well as teh crafting of the figurines. Well done.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:57 am
very hot
January 26th, 2010 at 7:25 am
awesome???
January 26th, 2010 at 7:44 am
im sorry but i dont see this art, nor does the message get across to me successfully.
they just appear to be japanese anime figures, which ive seen sold in numerous places.
January 26th, 2010 at 8:53 am
beautiful.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:06 am
fun and sexy stuff. its not really a stretch to create a linear connection between classical works and this kind of hentai satire. the artists aims to use process, craft, and composition as a way to focus women’s figures as the centre of each story…which is sometimes political. Whether it’s a breakthrough in art, maybe not, but it’s a cool exploration.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:07 am
very cute , and really made me smile when I opened the post .
maybe not ” grand art” but fun .
January 26th, 2010 at 10:15 am
“The highly stylised poses convey self-awareness and confidence, as Lichtenstein strives to vest each girl with an innate sense of empowerment and shared experience.”
Ah empowerment, that old chestnut when it comes to scantily clad women.
Seriously though, if this was in Forbidden Planet or a comic shop it wouldn’t be called art. It’s just hentai styled figurines and a pretentious blurb doesn’t change that.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:38 am
check the early Takashi Murakami works like “my lonesome cowboy” or “Hiropon”.
He was the first transforming anime fetish figures into art…
January 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Feels like Murakami but without the cultural frame of manga and anime.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
The artist certainly has imagination. But will they be remembered even a month from now?
January 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Has this something to do with design?
With all that is going on in the design world I can t understand why sometimes dezeen indulges in showing “things” such as this one.
cheers
January 26th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
did she design de figures herself or just bought and arranged in the scenes??
January 26th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Interesting! I guess this is geared towards men. I guess we’re just used to seeing alot more “plastic” around us (in every sense of the word)!
January 26th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Is it Jessica, formerly Jeff? Jeff Koons?…
January 26th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
haha :D KINKY! … where’s “modular”?!
January 26th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Off-the-shelf figurines + similarly-sized props are rated as art?
Having friends who have figurines as well as personally bought some of them, I can safely say that this is nothing more than a diorama featuring mostly 1/8 figurines that originate from popular anime series.
This series of works pale in comparison to what Takashi Murakami does.
How this can be rated an “artwork” is truly mystifying.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
At least Murakami created his own erotic figures. This guy just puts a made figure sold in Japan. Puts with some other mini figures, then calls is an art?
What is this?
honestly. Art contains a lot more effort and context than putting bought erotic figures on a pedestal.
Just putting nice text that supports her mix and match made figure is not art.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
@ yo
because it is variety and the element of surprise that makes Dezeen different :
yes, it could be a dead rigid blog with strict and dull rules .
where is the fun in that ? this kind of light hearted posts are a kind of wink ,
it is meant to lighten up the tone and remind readers to have a sense of humour .
don ‘ t worry , I am sure there ‘ ll be lots of ” proper ” design to come .
meanwhile I am sure Dezeen will remain unpredictable.
And that ’s why we read it .
January 26th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I find this offensive. Some person buys erotic Manga statues, stacking them up with other figurines does not qualify as ART! If they were somehow comical, or conveyed some type of social commentary on colonialism, femininity, sexuality,..etc.. anything this would at least be interesting to look at.
I feel sorry for the person that finds this work intriguing.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Everyone knows Murakami did this two years ago. He did it in a way which was far more of a cultural commentary than this pseudo-feministic artists statement could ever pretend to be. Why is this even featured here? It drags down the whole site. Dezeen Fail.
http://www.jcbourdais.net/journal/images_journal/journalthiron/lactation/jap1.jpg
January 26th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
to call this art is just sad. perhaps you can call it something that a person with too much time in her hands does; but to call it art is simply insulting the real artists out there who work hard to create something significant.
to dezeen editors: shouldn’t there be some editorial work going on to filter out insignificant work? i mean, most of my friends who were once loyal readers of dezeen and archdaily have left, all citing the same reason : that dezeen and archdaily have turned into a mere posting board for all sorts of random work to be shown. it’s *your* zeen! so do some editorializing, please!
January 26th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
very good… about time you lot at dezeen but some exsiting stuff of your site :)
January 26th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
These are so amazingly detailed, And so wonderfully quirky. Its nice to see that people dont have to always take themselves too seriously. My kind’a people.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
I think these are amazing!! and worthy of Dezeen!! Beautiful and I want one!- which, isn’t that the point?
So what if you can find similar figurines in stores. It’s the idea of turning these figures into hangable works of art. For those “high Art” fans who don’t venture into your neighborhood comic book stores, the artist is bringing them to the masses in an innovative way.
And honestly, you people above extoll Murakami who created his figures a few years ago when manga comics have been ongoing for decades. He brought it to the masses, as is this artist except in a different form. No difference. And I bet the pieces aren’t 1M as Murakami’s are.
Also add that most art is borrowed. Koons has been sued multiple times for copyright infringement for most of his pieces. He takes photographs and hires a team of people to turn the photograph into a statue.
http://www.jerryandmartha.com/yourdailyart/2006/01/more-puppies.html
January 26th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
These are mass-produced figures (sculpted by real artists) that depict licenced characters from popular anime lol. I hope they are at least credited somewhere. Photo 10 is Villetta form the 2008 anime “Code Geass” and 11 is Sheryl Nome from “Macross Frontier”. Nice dioramas, though
January 26th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Can’t help it, one more Koons example.
Koons’ collection of basketballs displayed in cases. Real art? I mean seriously?? Was selling for upwards of 2.2M pounds???
http://oneartworld.com/auctions/with?sale=P31&lot=30
Damien Hirst puts diamonds on a skull- art or craft?
January 26th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
i agree with glob. dezeen has lost it’s edge. time to go. posts are just too mediocre these days
January 26th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
To those who are saying this is not art – time to go back to a basic definition:
“Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.” – wikipedia
This is art – you may not like it – but considering some of the mixed medium work I’ve seen in high end galleries these day – this is genius by comparison. Its creative, expressive, fun, slightly subversive. Provokes a reaction that’s for sure.
That seems to be the definition of art.
Thought we had moved beyond narrow definitions of what art is – a boring and ultimately senseless debate.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
just to add….go to any good comic store and you will find objects that blow these away. seriously. walk on by. this is ordinary in a sea of many many many.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Agreed with Redundant Will.
Does anyone know if this is her real or chosen sur name? Prodigy of Roy Lichtenstein she is not.
Sorry, but I find this more provacative toys-r-us than art.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I can imagine that many of the previous comments which decried the availability of the figures commercially, found Cornell, Warhol and such to be “non-artists.” For shame! This is art as art can be; saucy, lusty, challenging, fun, serious and causing the viewer to question his/hers beliefs and expectations. And it is detailed, symbolic and enjoyable to view, even if sometimes discomforting to be seen enjoying it. Is it women’s lib, or more likely, a liberated woman commenting on a wide variety of beliefs about women. (and women’s knowledge of themselves. And having fun doing it! Thanks for pointing us to this kind of design
January 27th, 2010 at 12:02 am
I don’t know what to say. The figures are clearly pre existing commercial products, some of which are pretty mainstream anime characters.
The message the artist wished to convey could have been sent much more powerfully i think if she had crafted the figures herself.
As it stands, this is an exhibition of the work of a group of uncredited figure artists, work to which another artist at a later date has decided to apply meaning to via props.
At what point did this not become an abuse of the IP rights of the original creators.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:12 am
Art: Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. (wikipedia)
To call this not art is silly. You may not like it – but its art. Old and worn debate.
Have you seen some modern art at high end galleries these day with found objects etc? This is genius by comparison. And it is fun, sexy, and slightly subversive. Love it.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:16 am
hot. fun, light. smile at the end of day.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Why aren’t the figures’ original creators credited?
January 27th, 2010 at 2:14 am
man, there are a lot of uptight people who think they know everything there is to know about art/blogs/theinternets.
@Redundant Will
‘Everyone knows Murakami did this two years ago…’
i didn’t know. that means you are wrong because that makes it NOT everyone. that quote just sounds really snobbish. and yeah, so it’s been done before, so what? you don’t have to go around saying dezeen sucks. go start your own blog with your content based on ‘the best’ design… whatever that could possibly be.
and, so what if she bought the figurings and just arranged them in this way. isn’t that the same as people ordering windows/doors/connections/materials to arrange or incorporate into something called architecture/art/sculpture?
i actually don’t even really care for this artwork anyway. i just think that some people take everything way too seriously and dezeen doesn’t deserve your negative input. pushing all criticism of this art/whatever you want to call it aside, i was entertained by the post and also entertained by the comments of all the angry/disappointed peeps. come on now, getting disappointed at something like this is just a waste of energy. chillax people.
January 27th, 2010 at 3:21 am
I see a Macross Frontier, Code Geass, and Ah My Goddess figure. Not so sure about the others since I don’t collect ero figurines.
January 27th, 2010 at 3:22 am
She doesn’t seem to credit the original Designers of the figures she is using. That is criminal. I don’t see anything different than any other Figure collector does, take unrelated props and build a new story for a figure. This is not art, but something closer to plagiarism. Any one could buy those figures that people think she is responible for creating. Sad.
January 27th, 2010 at 3:26 am
It’s sad to see these posed scenes, glorified sexuality, the cliche of “objectification of women” being touted as art – by a woman artist! It’s very malecentric with an attempt to link it to existing art, but that gets overwhelmed by the accessories and positions she’s put them in. Not art. Not even manga, because the heart behind it is not to create the pure innocence and sexuality that manga does. It’s americanizing and to me – just my POV – belittling of the ‘art’ that manga and anime can be.
You can’t bling manga like she tried to do, and by posing them with planes between their legs and pool balls in their ass cracks she demeans the high status that mange and anime gives women – the powerful and sensual art of seduction that women create. They are just ‘objects’ now. However – if the point of art is to create emotion, regardless if the art is appreciated or not – then well done!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:27 am
…Gallery nine5?….Jessica Lichtenstein?? …please, please, please stick to your categories, you would know better…
January 27th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
If I wanted to see art (either good or bad) I’d go to an art blog/zeen.
And my opinion is that this falls into the latter category (or worse).
Please dezeen will you re-read your mission statement – “…the best architecture, design and interiors projects…” and start taking more care in what you choose to post.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
FYI what she is doing is not criminal. In law there is a doctrine called the first use doctrine. It is well established that if you buy something, you are paying the rights to that artist and you can use that item however you’d like. It is not copyright infringement. What would be copyright infringement is if she had taken pictures of the art and sold mass copies. However use of the sculptures sold incorporated into a piece of art is not copyright infringement. You could take a batman figure you bought at a store and hang it on something and it is not infringement.
Also want to add, @ Objectified- I think the opposite. By showing stereotypes, not sure artist is objectifying women. Sometimes mockery does not mean the artist is pro something vs negative (ie perpetuating stereotype to actually bring it to light). Also I enjoy the western slant on the manga. Shows maybe what westerners do to the innocence. She is not japanese nor pretends to be ( Lichtenstein?) so why interpret it as japanese- interpret as a western version of how westerners subvert japanese images.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
note how some comments reveal far more about the comments than about the subject
@ giangI find this offensive. Some person buys erotic Manga statues, stacking them up with other figurines does not qualify as ART! If they were somehow comical, or conveyed some type of social commentary on colonialism, femininity, sexuality,..etc.. anything this would at least be interesting to look at.
I feel sorry for the person that finds this work intriguing.
So, if this work conformed to my desired political agenda, then it would be art, but since it doesn’t, it isnt.
Seriously.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:30 am
I’m not understand this “object”. i don’t like that is art. it’s just HENTAI. i’m sad to have this object in the art world.
“art” is not to feel just “wow it’s sexy!, hot! very erotic!! …” it’s to feel something more than this, most special… i think.
And, japanese people have produced this type already, sorry but is not impacto for mi. is nothing.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:21 am
A friend of mine has one of the artist’s pieces in her house in Palm Beach. She pointed me to this website but did not want to comment. My friend also has a Murakami, a Lichtenstein (Roy), Kandinsky and other famous art (i.e., real collector). She says she gets more comments and people stop to look at this piece more than any other. It’s fun. It’s unique. It’s 3-d. It’s like playing with barbie dolls as a kid. And the artist customized it for her so that each story relates to my friend in some way- like a diary.
You can’t deny it is clever and brings a smile to all who look at it. Yes I think she buys some dolls and designs some others but artists have made money off of other images for ages. Case in point, the Lichtenstein (Roy) that is next to Lichtenstein’s (Jessica) piece in my friends house is an image of Donald Duck.- and on the other side, is a Warhol of Mickey Mouse. Um, yeah…same thing.
January 28th, 2010 at 4:19 am
The presence of a “Lichtenstein” surname drew me in deeper hoping for a deep talent with in the blood lines (who she may our may not be related to the Roy Lichtenstein). However, this is only interesting to my id as for which this site does not apply to.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:06 am
agree with most of the above– murakami already did it, and made tons of money at the same time.
regardless of “if this is art or not” no one likes a copy cat– especially one that warrants valuable blog space on dezeen, hence the backlash.
anyway she gets her 15minutes, andy would be proud.
January 28th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
@bgatz- your argument doesn’t hold up. Anime existed before Murakami. It’s like saying that any Impressionist artist who came after Monet was a fake- but there has been tons of artists like that.
Anime is a genre- like Baroque or Pop-or like anything (music- i.e., rap, hip hop). It existed WAY before Murakami and will exist after. If people want to derive other means of expressing any anime, they should be able to do so without having to answer to “another artist already did that”.
January 28th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Some People here are REALLY Jealous!!!
If you don’t see the message in this work, then you have clouded eyes.
It’s fun, it’s light, it’s a commentary on women and their fantasies, it’s sexy and it’s beautiful to look at.
Debating whether this is ART or not is a whole different ball game. I mean, is a Fontana art?? A one-color painted canvas with a slit in the middle! I mean, I can do that my eyes closed; but I pull my hat off to the artist who had the idea of it, who carried the message, who represented a moment in the culture of that time.
I’m not comparing here, I’m just saying STOP this intellectual masturbation and enjoy this work for what it is, pure enjoyment. And well done to the girl if she managed to get a show, where I hear she sold pretty well…
I’d love to have one of those at home, it’d put a smile on my face every day.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
yeeeeees!!! I want them all!!!
January 28th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
finally………….! thank you…..
January 29th, 2010 at 12:50 am
@Esistential:
@bgatz- your argument doesn’t hold up. Anime existed before Murakami. It’s like saying that any Impressionist artist who came after Monet was a fake- but there has been tons of artists like that.
I don’t think you understand much about pop art but probably spend way too much time watching subtitled DVDs…
In effect you are saying Campbell’s Soup came before Warhol therefore his work is predated. The intellectual critique is the point NOT simply that the subject matter is anime or soup for that matter. This artist is essentially using the the exact same route to make her point, hence it is derivative.
January 29th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
@bgatz- actually do agree with you- it is derivative. my point is that all art is derivative. It is not me saying “In effect you are saying Cambell’s Soup came before Warhole therefore his work is predated”- you are saying that (I think you used “copy cat”), I am saying the opposite.
To point singularly at the artist just because she uses anime is unfair, uniformed and inconsistent. Then anyone who uses anime (a genre that existed before Murakami) you will now call insignificant becuase Murakami already has “been there and done that.” That gets rid of artists like Hung Tung-Lu, Zhang Gong or Zhang Peng solely because they reference anime. And I disagree it is not the same route. Tiny anime girls in western dioramas that hang on a wall is not the same as a life-sized “Lonesome Cowboy”. To not see that is a failure of the imagination.
February 1st, 2010 at 5:20 pm
lol! ok! BEST-POST-EVER
February 7th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I’m confused as to how 95% of the people on here seem to be missing the point (As I understand it). I just read the comments on another article that spun off into the healthcare debate and if the ratio intelligent people on the internet is anywhere near that of the real world, I fear for the future. The artist isn’t trying to pretend like the sculpted the figures, and their sexuality is not supposed to be a good thing. It’s putting these insanely sexualized representations of women (That are becoming more and more popular throughout the world, not just in Japan) amongst more realistic objects to highlight how unrealistic and subservient the figures are. Using irony to point out the subservient role women are being pushed into isn’t a new idea, but there’s more to it than “just hentai styled figurines”.
Actually, going back to the post I was just quoting;
“Seriously though, if this was in Forbidden Planet or a comic shop it wouldn’t be called art. It’s just hentai styled figurines and a pretentious blurb doesn’t change that.”
Bad news for you, buddy. The figurines themselves are art as well. They may not say anything important (or positive, for that matter), but it’s all art. If someone paints it, sculpts it, composes it, arranges it or rearranges it… it’s art (Check out Duchamp).
February 9th, 2010 at 10:52 am
I Love New YorK: But This Exhibition Is Worthless. Augustus Rodin gave us The Thinker. Is This The Stinker?..I Wouldn’t mind taking that shot on the Eight Ball though lol. Come on this is neither art nor erotic arts.They Also have an Lesbians Exhibition in Brooklyn.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Too much Takashi Murakami influence!
February 9th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
what no guys? what happened to equal time?
February 9th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Her work is not saying anything that Murakami’s has already said. Actually, it is doing less by still drawing attention to womens bodies without any real underlying message or true irony. I see no statement here about high/low art, otaku culture as demeaning, etc. At least she knows some perverts will buy her dolls with the justification of “gallery purchases”. I think the only thing that softens it for me is the fact that its made by a female. But just like britney’s body was to “music”, it doesn’t mean anything today in the scheme of things to start doing it now…
February 9th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I wonder how it would look if we took the manga dolls and put a barbie doll instead? too much cliché? same crap to me. oh well i’ve seen worst than this. at least it’s easy to talk about art. why talk about some tv series episode when you can talk about “art”.
February 10th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Some things will never change . You can take the man out of the cave ………….
February 11th, 2010 at 3:30 am
Place this work next to the figures of Michelangelo and you can see how small the work of Jessica Lichtenstein is. After all we have to all measure ourselves by history.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Price
February 18th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Love it. And bet the artist loves these comments- even the ones trying to be negative are only negative in so much as it is comparing an unknown artist to Michaelangelo or Murakami. Good for you Lichtenstein. Like to see more.
February 19th, 2010 at 6:27 am
I would like version with naked men.
February 19th, 2010 at 6:29 am
The porn sites are gonna die:(
February 27th, 2010 at 3:54 am
I would have to see them in person to form a real opinion. While I appreciate the artist’s attempt to depict these hypersexual manga characters as anticipating the male gaze, and returning it in a powerful subjective way it seems like they are only reifying the many problems of visual representation in art. I cite the many comments on how ’sexy’ they are. I guess you could say that they are in control of their own commodification, so they are empowered, but I feel like you would have to have sign, or person standing there telling you that that is what they are doing. By depicting them working, or serving food while in these poses also reiterates the long history in western art of fascination with the voyeuristic male artists obsession with classing the female body, to which you could say that they are looking back at the audience, so they are in control of the voyeurism, so I can see both sides. Tough call.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Lol my room is full of hentai figures and i dont call that art.
Is just stupid!
March 15th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
i think these kind of dollys would interest the son more than the daughter
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:55 am
Some of them look interesting but I’m not grasping a deeper meaning from them. Not cool to not credit the original sculptors either.