Hey. Hey there. Look over here. Over here!
OK. There’s really no way to keep your attention for very long when there are breasts to look at, so we’ll keep this short.
The show with all the breasts is called “The Breasts of the Northwest.” It’s the first show of its kind at Lowell Art Works in Everett. It opens with a party Saturday where there will be artists, refreshments (even some sexy-looking refreshments) and lots and lots of breasts.
And it’s definitely OK to look. And be entertained.… This is art after all.
That’s part of the reason artist Jules Anslow organized this breast-fest. She wanted to put on a show where breasts were welcome. She’s calling this a celebration of the chesticle. A reverence to the rack.
She’s done art with breasts that has been censored (in Seattle, not in Everett). She realized then that it’s hard to find a place to show art with breasts or nudes and it was time to offer that. Anslow wanted to help change those censoring attitudes about the boobs.
“Why are we so shocked at the sight of a breast?” Anslow asked. “There are videos with all kinds of violence, but if we see a breast we just lose our minds. It’s not pornography but nudity. And in this show, it’s not even real nudity, just images of nudity. It’s not dangerous.”
After all, Anslow said, think about all the various ways of looking at breasts, so to speak.
“They are nurturing, life-giving, fun, sexy … they evoke different emotions,” she said. “Throughout life they change and that can be very emotional. I want this show to make people stop and think about the kind of power they have over us.”
Seventeen artists have created breasts in all sorts of media. Some samples include:
Bob Hoverter, who normally does exotic wood designs of lamps and stained glass, has produced the exotic Dolores Alba who loves “window breasting.” Dolores is an all-white torso made from Styrofoam and has papier-mache protuburances.
There’s a mosaic torso of Phyllis Titsworth.
A wreath made of bare-chested Barbies.
A watercolor nude by Ursula Stocke called “Flow.” A luscious nude called “Sapphire” painted by Kim Loesch.
Two steel pieces from Lance Carlton that are reminiscent of those torpedo-shaped bras. Susan Jensen sends out a message about mastectomies with her painting “Lovely Lopsided Ladies” floating atop a field of boobies.
Anslow has a piece in the show called “Breasts of the Northwest,” which is an acrylic on wood of two giant pink breasts that had glommed onto the Space Needle. She also painted “Mr. B,” a portrait in which the eyes on the face have become breasts, to poke a bit of fun at men who always stare at women’s chests.
“This is a curiously American problem. It’s like the forbidden fruit here,” Anslow said. “No one ever sees them, so they have become so sexualized. They have this entire mystique, but really everybody’s got them. Just lift up your shirt and see.”
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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