Alexandra Rubinstein And Her Sexy, Funny, Poignant Activist Art
Well, thanks to the internet and Huffpost and Buzzfeed and all that, I learned of an artist named Alexandra Rubinstein and her POV paintings of famous men going down in a series she calls "A Dream Come True (Celebrity Cunnilingus)."
This one's called "Breakfast Hamm," but you should check them all out HERE. You'll also find Drake, and Bieber, and Obama (called "Thanks Obama"), and many more.
"Breakfast Hamm" by Alexandra Rubinstein
So, I went to check her out, and I have to say, she's bad ass as hell, people. This isn't her first rodeo. She's been at this game for a minute, and that game is speaking up about the giant gaping lack when it comes to a female perspective of sex, pleasure, orgasm, desire, and fantasy - in our media and in our culture in general.
Here's the deal. We live in a world that works hard to ignore the very simple fact that women need clitoral stimulation for orgasm. It ignores the truth that no scientific literature exists showing physical evidence of orgasm caused through stimulation of the inside of the vagina, and people often don't know that women are physically and biologically able to orgasm as quickly, easily, and reliably as men. So, all kinds of BS arises from these basic misunderstandings in our culture of how women physically orgasm. The way men and women have sexual encounters, the types of things that are sexy, the way sex and men and women are depicted in our media, and the expectations of sexual encounters all are affected heavily - and women's orgasms, fantasies and desires are often the losers.
The wierd thing is, these ways we see sex and how women and men fit into sex are so deeply ingrained in us that it's hard to even notice it. But, if anyone is going to notice it and be pissed about it, it's a woman, and we need women like Rubinstein out there pointing out how our orgasms, desires, and fantasies are overwhelmingly overshadowed by male orgasms, desires, and fantasies. She is doing the good, tricky work of bringing attention to something that maybe people don't want to think about too much....and she's doing it in a fun way - so that people might actually look. I love it. It's great activism. This woman is a kick-ass artist, and I'm adding her to the Orgasm Equality Heroes List. So congrats on getting into a list you never even knew existed, Ms. Rubinstein!
But let me just go a little more into her repertoire because the famous men going down are not Rubinstein's only badass Orgasm Equality art.
She's also got a series called "Thirsty" that takes old Playgirl pics and creates a wall mounted bottle opener from them.
'Greg' 12"x16.5" oil on Panel/Steel by Alexandra Rubinstein
How about the "I get it for the articles" series that also takes from old Playgirl pics and works that female gaze with images where the objects of our desire are masculine and sexy but also depicts them as soft and vulnerable.
'Allan' 11" x 14" Oil on canvas by by Alexandra Rubinstein
Maybe you'd like to check out the series "Into The Wild" where she imagines some of those vibrators that exist out there - you know, the ones that for whatever odd reason are shaped like animals - are back out in their natural habitats.
'Snow Bunny' 16" x 20" Oil on canvas by by Alexandra Rubinstein
Or maybe you want something from the "New Wave" series? Let me just quote her description, 'cause I like it, and I think she's right on about the need to refocus attention on how the personal is political for women.
"These poster-like paintings are inspired by past and present propaganda, pop culture and the recent wave of feminism, focusing on modern topics and drawing a connection between the personal and the political. Empowering women to take ownership of our bodies, treatment of our bodies, and language around our bodies, and framing gender equality as patriotic. The paintings were used as designs for t-shirts that were sold to spread the message and mimic the distributions and spread of propaganda."
'Eat It or Beat It' 15" x 20" Oil on canvas by by Alexandra Rubinstein
There's many others that you will enjoy. Seriously, check her site. She's awesome and we here at SSL thank you, Alexandra Rubinstein for your special brand of art activism. Brava!
Go check her out on the SSL Orgasm Equality Heroes List.