Porn Valley- Art and porn have always grazed each other, bumping briefly before continuing in their separate directions. Julio Aguilera and Carmen Luvana are bringing them together intentionally this time, with the singular goal of making art and porn stick.
Carmen Luvana, the Adam & Eve contract star, has agreed to be the first
subject in a series of paintings featuring prominent adult film stars. New
York artist Julio Aguilera has experimented with a number of topics in the
past, crafting swirling chess matches, dizzying smokers and stark portraits.
But, ³a porn star is a new challenge,² the artist says. ³Carmen requires
more than just a portrait,² he continues, ³she is the focal point for any
study of the human body, plus the passion and intensity that follow in her
wake.²
This experiment, according to Aguilera, is expected to consist of five
paintings, each one of a different adult film star. With an abstract style
inspired by Picasso, El Goya and Greco, he hopes to reflect the heat implied by the pose of each star he studies. The girls still will be recognizable, but the abstract rendering will make visual that which usually is hidden.
“Imagine seeing a heat map of Carmen in stark contrast to a blue
background,” Aguilera says. “You see her in an entirely different way. But,
you still know it¹s Carmen.”
Picasso inspired this still untitled project, Aguilera says. Specifically,
he recalls ³Les Demoiselles d¹Avignon,² which Picasso originally wanted to
entitle ³Prostitutes of Avignon² before his dealer forced the more mundane
moniker. Aguilera views Picasso as a mentor and role model. ³All he did was
paint and sculpt and fuck,² the artist says of his inspiration, ³so working
with porn stars just makes sense to me.²
Luvana was Aguilera¹s first choice for his new project because of her ³body
style, passion and intensity.² When she enters a scene, she¹s just on fire!²
Aguilera also admits that he has a soft spot for the way Luvana often breaks into her (and Augilera¹s) native Spanish during her performances.
For Luvana, working with Aguilera was a unique opportunity she just had to
take. ³TV and movie crossovers are becoming so common, she says. Crossing
over into art is going to be wild. I¹ve never done anything like this
before.²
Augilera is an established artist in New York. His work in on display at the Venezuelan consulate Gallery and has appeared in the Marriott Marquis in New York, the International ArtExpo at the Jacobo Javits Center and the Latin Museum in Miami.