It's not very often one can get away with visiting a red-light district on the excuse of art, but the National Gallery enables exactly that in the unusual exhibition,
Kienholz: The Hoerengracht.
American artists, and husband and wife, Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz are renowned for their anti-establishment work which seeks to confront the viewer with 'underground' aspects of modern life. Their unique style is epitomised in The Hoerengracht installation which recreates Amsterdam's infamous, and hugely popular, red light district.
Eerily lit windows and shadowy doorways incorporated into confined brick alleys have cleverly captured something of the air of mystery and sin of the real-life Amsterdam. But perhaps most evocative of all is the series of mannequins watching you, watching them. Some of them stand provocatively in windows trying to 'hawk' customers while others are glimpsed in more domestic scenarios, reading magazines and washing, truly bringing home the reality and facade of the city's sex industry.
Some critics have said the exhibit makes the viewer feel a little like a
Peeping Tom, but for me, it makes you more of an anthropologist, putting an age-old part of society under the microscope and making you question if it belongs in the 21st century.
Whether it alters your morality is up for debate, but one thing's for sure: it's not very often you get to step into the artwork, and even less that you're given a chance to scrutinise your values as much as the art.
