That Obscure Object of Desire
In Luis Bunuel’s 1977 film That Obscure Object of Desire, the protagonist, Mathieu, is flummoxed by a femme fatale whose promise of sex teases and enrages him to the point of tears—yet she never gives in. Borrowing its title from Bunuel, a new show opening at New York’s Luxembourg & Dayan gallery releases all that pent-up frustration via a group of artists who obsessively worked and reworked their infatuations into exegetic art with palpable erotic charge.
“That Obscure Object of Desire” is on view from August 14 to October 4 at New York’s Luxembourg & Dayan, 64 E. 77th Street.
La Poupée, 1949 by Hans Bellmer. Photo by Jeffrey Sturges, courtesy of Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Figure Horizon #4, 1972 by Robert Heinecken. ©2014 The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago. Courtesy Cherry & Martin, Los Angeles. Photo by Brian Forrest.
La Poupée (L’attente latent), 1949 by Hans Bellmer. Photo by Jeffrey Sturges, courtesy of Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Leakage Industries: Soft Screw, 2012 by Alisa Baremboym. Photo by Joerg Lohse, courtesy of 47 Canal, New York.
Leg Chair (John Travolta), 2010 by Anthea Hamilton. Collection of Beth Rudin De Woody, photo by Andy Keate.
Untitled (frieze), c. 1974 by Dorothea Tanning. ©2014 The Dorothea Tanning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Mia Moffett.
Traffic Sign, 1970 by Dorothea Tanning. ©2014 The Dorothea Tanning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Christian Carone.
Lampe-bouche, 1966 by Alina Szapocznikow. Courtesy of The Estate Alina Szapocnikow / Piotor Stanislawski Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris / Andrew Rosen Gallery, New York. ©Alina Szapocnikow / ADAGP, Paris.
