The Paris Salon, sponsored by the French government and the Academy of Fine Arts, took place annually and from 1748 to 1890 was the greatest annual event in the Western world. The Salon featured an offering of juried works, and artists were eager to be accepted. From its inception, however, with each year the jury became more restrictive in its selection. The increasingly conservative and academic juries were not receptive to the Impressionist painters, whose works were usually rejected, or poorly placed if accepted.
In 1863, the jury refused two thirds of the pieces submitted to the Salon. The artists, and their supporters, protested these events, and their protests reached the ears of Napoleon III. While Napoleon favored the more traditional styles, he was not deaf to the voice of the people. So was born the Salon des Refusés, a selection of works which the Paris Salon had refused that year. A thousand people came daily to see this display, and while many mocked the works for their abandonment of more traditional styles, still more would come to admire the growing art movement contained within.
Here at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, we receive far more works than we have space on our walls. The jury process is a long one, fraught with debate and tension. Our submissions consist of such beautiful works, evocative and stimulating, intelligent and thought provoking. Works that draw people in and make them step away. So many of the works we do not accept were declined by the narrowest of margins.
Because of this, we have decided to host our own salon des refusés. This year, the festival will feature an installation that electronically displays many of the pieces the jury regretfully said “no” to. By utilizing digital technology, this continuous slideshow helps us transcend the spacial limitations of our venue, giving our patrons more art that strives to answer the question, “What is erotic?”
In keeping with tradition, our salon des refusés is an optional installation for declined visual artists only. Submitting artists must indicate in their application that they will allow their work to be included in this installation provided their pieces are declined. The salon des refusés slideshow will be shown in one gallery section of the Exhibition space. The slideshow will not include any identifying information about the declined art, artist, or why it was declined by the jury. This is a one time showing opportunity and no copies will be distributed or archived. The slideshow will be offered for patron viewing without commentary. Should a patron of the festival show a particular liking in any of the salon des refusés pieces, our docents will be able to provide the artists’ information and facilitate communication.
Featured photo by IRDeep.