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.
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La Poupée, 1949 by Hans Bellmer. Photo by Jeffrey Sturges, courtesy of Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
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Figure Horizon #4, 1972 by Robert Heinecken. ©2014 The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago. Courtesy Cherry & Martin, Los Angeles. Photo by Brian Forrest.
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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.
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Leakage Industries: Soft Screw, 2012 by Alisa Baremboym. Photo by Joerg Lohse, courtesy of 47 Canal, New York.
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Leg Chair (John Travolta), 2010 by Anthea Hamilton. Collection of Beth Rudin De Woody, photo by Andy Keate.
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Untitled (frieze), c. 1974 by Dorothea Tanning. ©2014 The Dorothea Tanning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Mia Moffett.
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Traffic Sign, 1970 by Dorothea Tanning. ©2014 The Dorothea Tanning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Christian Carone.
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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.