Hans van der Kamp

Once in a while some smartass reminds me that the current exhibit on my oldest site AMEA // World Museum of Erotic Art has not changed in a year. This positive criticism, usually posted on the message page for the whole world to see, is often met by me with bad-tempered remarks. People who have a good point can be so irritating! Why can’t we have a society where everybody is talking Dadaistic nonsense, composed to distract our minds from the ugly excrements of human rationale? That would be so much better for our blood circulation. Other webmasters I know run sites where people cannot express themselves at all; they simply type moronic one-liners like ‘Ur 1 ugly fuck’ and leave – forever. Why do I have to be stuck with the two percent sincere intellectuals on the Web? I was born for misery, I guess…

For a while now I have been convinced that AMEA should feature more contemporary art; there is enough historical art in the exhibits section. Being the self-proclaimed webmaster I should go out hunting for art that I like and at times I do find some jewels on the web, but I always forget to bookmark these pages. Enjoying great art and pushing buttons somehow just don’t mix.

Instead I am approached by artists every day and I carefully look at their works. In general I do not like what I see, but I hate rejecting people, so I end up doubting my own judgment. The result is always the same; I have to conclude that there is nothing wrong with those works. They perfectly fit the description of what is commonly known as ‘Erotic Art’. Some of these bleeding hearts even refer to themselves as ‘Erotic Artists’ instead of just ‘Artists’. So, that leaves me with only one thing left; to read their attached artist statement — and *wham!* my original resentment is back again.

Erotic Art has its own galleries, museums, networks etc. It is an art ghetto, if you ask me. The competition is not half as fierce as it is in the ‘real’ art world. I like to think I am an artist myself and whenever I am approached by somebody who wants to showcase my works in one form or another, it is always the same ‘Bordello‘ series they have in mind.

A few months ago I was approached by the editor of NY Arts Magazine with a request to use some images of my – you guessed right – Bordello series and of course I was happy to oblige. Additionally I was asked to write an artist statement. I had stopped drinking for quite some time when he asked me and I was a little insecure. I prefer to write sober, with the exception of those so-called artist statements. Instead of thinking what people would want to hear from a business-oriented artist who prefers to photograph older people, I just jotted down what I thought was the truth behind my urge to become an artist. My old editor chief proofread it and he did not like it very much. His felt the piece was a tear jerker. Well, maybe it is, but I never felt as close to the truth as when I wrote those three hundred words.

There is an editorial preview at:

http://nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7341&Itemid=246

PS: Just days after writing the draft of this post, I ran into the works of Carolyn Weltman and Dean Cameron and I really adore their works! Days later I was approached by yet another great artist. His show will soon be up too. (I guess I just had to really put my mind to it.)

Share on Facebook