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Lot Essay
In Pierre et Gilles's Glory Hole, the potential for anonymity is wickedly subverted in order to position the viewer as a potential voyeur, turning the observer into another participant in the scene, and giving him a privileged view of the events happening before his eyes. Although the participants are located within an exuberant and conveniently secret ambiance _ that a few years later will reappear lusciously enhanced at the core of the series entitled as "les plaisirs de la forêts" _ they are not alone. Framing the image there is a concave surface, a peep hole, inviting to witness the action at first-hand (no pun intended) as if the artists were worried also to satisfy the most intimate voyeuristic cravings of the audience;
The picture may seem disturbing as it is one of the most sexually-explicit works ever crafted by Pierre et Gilles. It was made in the middle of the nineties, a time of full-frontal confrontation about setting up the limits between art and pornography in the world in a decade in which decency in the art aimed to be the common rule, fueled by conservative groups, mostly in the United States. As courageous and aggressive the artists' statement could be, one must take into account that Glory Hole is a staged parody of an erotic practice performed by adults under mutual (yet silent) agreement. This is nothing but a theatrical reflection of a man's urgency and submission _ and the artists wanted to make sure the audience will view it as such.
The picture may seem disturbing as it is one of the most sexually-explicit works ever crafted by Pierre et Gilles. It was made in the middle of the nineties, a time of full-frontal confrontation about setting up the limits between art and pornography in the world in a decade in which decency in the art aimed to be the common rule, fueled by conservative groups, mostly in the United States. As courageous and aggressive the artists' statement could be, one must take into account that Glory Hole is a staged parody of an erotic practice performed by adults under mutual (yet silent) agreement. This is nothing but a theatrical reflection of a man's urgency and submission _ and the artists wanted to make sure the audience will view it as such.
