Sexwork. Art. Myth. Reality

This catalog was published by Kehrer Verlag to accompany the nGbK exhibition of the same name in cooperation with Haus am Kleistpark and Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien. The project was intended as a comment on the subject of sex work. A look at art history shows that prostitutes have often been used for explorations of the relationship between the (male) artist and the female body, male sexuality, or of social and religious taboos. By contrast, there is little or no mention of the their customers or of those who profit from sex work. The catalog brings together works on prostitution that avoid voyeuristic and cliched perspectives, presenting the subject in a new, differentiated light. It reproduces the exhibition’s division into the sections “Self-understanding and respect,” “Clichés and Realities,” and “Migrant labor, human trafficking, and sex tourism.” The essays deal with human trafficking, gender relations, and the legal background of prostitution, topics also addressed in the program of accompanying events. The artists featured include J. Jackie Baier, Patrick Angus, Antje Engelmann, and Tejal Shah.

Ed.: nGbK

Work group: Stéphane Bauer, Boris von Brauchitsch, Katharina Kaiser, Maika Leffers, Jörg Leidig, Judith Siegmund, Ulrike Solbrig

With contributions by: Stéphane Bauer, Boris von Brauchitsch, Hans Holzkamp, Christiane Howe, Katharina Kaiser, Emilija Mitrovitc, Judith Siegmund, Wolfgang B. Werner, Elena Zanichelli