Sex Objects: Art And The Dialectics Of Desire Book

It is difficult to talk about the sketchy, tenuous, and completely subjective lines that separate "art" from "pornography" without delving into the personal, which Doyle bravely does in this narrative-driven critical study of sex in art and popular culture. Doyle suggests that much writing about sex in art is essentially reductive in its prosaic boosterism of sexual expression, and reminds us that the other side of arousal is boredom-- the thwarting, or failure of desire and interest. Doyle explores the work of several very different artists spanning myriad disciplines in order to demonstrate that oftentimes the desire to find "sex" in art leads to a sort of performance anxiety on the part of the artist, performer or audience: simply put, art that engages with eroticism must necessarily focus on more than just the money shot.
Engrossing, entertaining and easy to read, this is a refreshingly juicy alternative to drier art criticism.