LOS ANGELES — Pornhub enters the world of fine art this month with its sponsorship of an exhibition aptly titled “The Pleasure Principle” at the noted Maccarone Gallery in Los Angeles.
Curator Michelle Maccarone is “known for presenting challenging, occasionally impenetrable contemporary art by the likes of Bjarne Melgaard and, more recently, actor Jim Carrey,” observes James Tarny for Bloomberg News.
Pornhub VP Corey Price notes their recent collaboration with the New York’s Museum of Sex on an exhibit titled "STAG: The Illicit Origins of Pornographic Film."
“We’ve been reaching out and doing a lot of diverse things for quite some time now,” he said. “I think it’s important to get involved culturally and move the brand in different, diverse directions. But we don’t just randomly sponsor art things — we want it to be part of the conversation of sex and sexuality in the art space.”
Despite what would seem to be a discordant match, at least on paper, Bloomberg notes “the calculus behind a streaming-porn site sponsoring an exhibition of envelope-pushing, sexualized art is fairly straightforward… Maccarone says that a pro-sex, pro-female show is directly in keeping with her gallery’s programming.”
Pornhub agreed to underwrite the production and installation of around 50 works from a diverse group of artists, a cost-prohibitive endeavor for the gallery without the financial boost.
“I would hope this show has a huge audience,” Maccarone told Bloomberg. “I’m going to great lengths to make sure there are interactive works, with artists on the premises.”
She is unconcerned about any potential blowback. “I honestly don’t care,” she said. “For me, it’s one of the most inspiring things I’ve worked on in a long time. There’s a way you’re supposed to behave in the art world — represent an artist, go to art fairs — but [art] should be anything goes.”
“The Pleasure Principle” opens September 21 and runs through November 23. Find the Maccarone gallery online and on Instagram. Visit Pornhub on Twitter.
For additional details, read the entire Bloomberg story here.
In related news, Brazzers is at the center of an unusual immersive "time-traveling art exhibit" titled "Backroom VHS" in New York that allows attendees to explore a VHS-era video store featuring a quintet of studio stars.