Taking a “deep” look into “vagina” conjures images of cold speculums entering hot lips. But what the 101 confessions, stories, poems and paeans in 101 Vagina deeply penetrate are the souls of the women that author Philip Werner photographed for this beautiful, illuminating coffee table book.
Coming straight to RadioSUZY1 studios from his opening at Downtown LA’s Think Tank art gallery, Philip joins us live mid-show to chat about art, porn, women, men, photography and, of course, vagina. Purists will note that Philip’s elegant black-and-white photos of 101 different sets of naked, full-frontal ladyparts more precisely show vulvas, the vulva being the exterior of the female genitalia, the vagina being the interior. But each photo is accompanied by a very personal story written by the unidentified woman who uncovered her crotch for Philip’s lens. These are tales of love and longing, sex and birth, pleasure and pain, discovery and maturity, shame and transgression, ... and juiciness. Each dives deep into the physical, emotional and/or spiritual meaning of what we call “vagina.”
Moreover, Philip was inspired to do the project by Eve Ensler’s brilliant Vagina Monologues. Eve was famously taken to task by one of my mentors, Dr. Betty Dodson, for using the technically incorrect “V” word, though the two great ladies eventually made up, hopefully bonobo-style. In any case, it’s understandable that Philip would prefer “vagina” for his art show. After all, if he’d called it “101 Vulva,” a lot of folks might think it’s a Swedish car show. Sorry for the bad pun; a vulva isn’t a Volvo, though it helps to learn how to drive it.
While waiting for Philip to arrive, Capt’n Max, Trixie and I discuss and show other vaginal and vulvular art throughout history and from our own Bonoboville art gallery, including Doug Johns’ gorgeous genital sculpture, Georgia O’Keefe’s famous vaginal flowers, Judy Chicago’s historic vulva-plated “Dinner Party,” Sayko’s vulvular life-castings, Bill Pacek’s functional, wooden “pussy pipes,” the late great Frank Moore’s vibrant digital painting of my own holy water-squirting “Pleasure Fount,” Annie Sprinkle’s “Public Cervix Announcement,” Nicole Daedone’s “Orgasmic Meditation,” Dorrie Lane’s Wondrous Vulva Puppet and “the V of her crotch” in Peyton Place. There’s a lot of great vagina out there, and that’s just in the art world.
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