Culture and Sexuality - Alberto Vargas
Even in cultures such as our own, where open sexuality is often shunned or looked at as a negative trait, sexuality seems to be tightly woven into much of the art we produce. Many erotic artists are immortalized for the work that they produce for us. One such artist is Alberto Vargas.
Vargas' style was far reaching, but had a tendency to carry several very common themes. Women with long, slender fingers, lean bodies and idealized breast shapes were very common. Most of his images had a flirtatious sexual nature, rather than one that was more mellow, as was common for the time. The girls in Vargas paintings had playful expressions, were happy and were usually in the middle of some action or activity, as if they were caught by surprise or busy whilst captured in the painting.
Famous people often appeared in Vargas' work and for some this was a great compliment, given his fame that was developed during his life. Vargas created works for both Esquire and Playboy magazines, two of the most well known erotic publications depicting women in the western world.
While the erotic work of an artist is often recognised for its beauty and and the talents of the creator, the individuals featured, depending on how they are featured, is not always seen as quite as wonderful. Some individuals, such as Marilyn Monroe were victims of both positive and negative responses simultaneously. The conservative public painted a negative picture of her for being sexually open and seductive, while many of her fans and the less conservative public idolized her for her beauty and helped immortalize her through their continuing admiration.
Vargas' art, though, stretched over the span of time that led into a more accepting environment. Starting out around 1917, Vargas worked off and on until the 1980s, seeing both the sexual revolution of the 1960s-70s and the small backlash that was felt in the 1980s.
It is interesting to find, though, that the more abundant the exposure is to healthy sexuality, the more open people seem to be to share sexual information and to accept our sexual side. It is my opinion that this makes works such as Vargas' a very positive addition to art and culture and it is my hope that such works are continuously created.
