OTTAWA – from www.torntosun.com – The art isn’t the only thing that will be well hung at La Petite Mort gallery if owner Guy Berube [pictured] has his way.
Berube plans on renting his Ottawa art gallery out to a gay porn film shoot in a month or so.
Anyone who knows Berube and his gallery probably wouldn’t be surprised by the deal. After all, he’s been exhibiting graphically sexual art there ever since he opened up shop in 2005. You literally can’t turn a corner without seeing a penis or a vagina staring back at you.
Now, a gay porn film producer is so anxious to secure La Petite Mort Gallery, he offered, $1,000 — double Berube’s daily rental rate. They haven’t yet settled on a date for the shoot.
A Facebook posting has already stirred up controversy about the shoot, but Berube doesn’t mind. Covered in tattoos, he likes controversy.
“Having worked briefly in New York’s porn industry (as a cameraman), I can tell you that finding good locations is extremely difficult,” he said. “So I was flattered that they wanted my space.”
Berube has struggled to pay the gallery’s bills, supplementing his income by renting it out for personal and professional clients, but this is the first time he’s rented the space to a porn film — not that he has a problem with it.
“The National Gallery showed graphic sex in the Pop Life exhibition last summer. The gallery is open to all artists and porn is art in my eyes. Letting them shoot porn here, it might create some great porn,” he said.
“The art business is a tough now. This is just another way of making cash.”
It’s not the first time that adult filmmakers have approached Berube about using his sexy space. Those deals fell through because “they weren’t the right fit,” he said with a laugh.
“I also turn down rentals that might be too loud or interfere with our neighbours. We host a lot of events here. If it upset them, I’d cancel.”
However, when asked for his reaction about the proposed film shoot, the building’s owner, who asked not to be identified, said he’s uncomfortable with the idea and would speak with Berube.
La Petite Mort’s next exhibition, called “Not yet legal: Group Exhibit Demonstrating a Younger Point of View on the World,” features art by students of Ottawa’s De la Salle High School, opening on Jan. 29.