Source: Omroepbrabant.nl (In Dutch)
DEN BOSCH – What happens when you put a sex worker and an artist together? That’s right, something exciting happens. That must be what the curators of the Sexhibition exhibition in Den Bosch thought too. Seven sex workers and artists were paired up through speed dating. SM mistress Eve* and artist Hanneke Wetzer became a perfect match. This resulted in remarkable photos and good conversations.
Hanneke, an artist and photographer, knew absolutely nothing about the work of SM mistress Eve, who, for a fee, ensures that people who wish to do so adopt a submissive attitude. This is called BDSM, an umbrella term for sexual practices in which submission and the exchange of power play a role.
Hanneke: “So, after long conversations, I went along with Eve to one of those BDSM sessions. I wanted to experience firsthand what it’s like between a mistress and a sub (submissive). I didn’t know what I was going to encounter, but I wanted to capture it, like a fly on the wall. To observe and feel the atmosphere.”
And surprisingly, it worked very well. Hanneke was sitting in the same room where Eve was working with her client and was barely noticed. Eve forgot she had an observer: “We were at the end of the session and I looked up and saw her sitting in a corner. It turned out she had finished photographing half an hour earlier. But I was so engrossed in my game that I hadn’t noticed.” Hanneke: “Being there felt like a kind of trance where the fantasy world and reality flow into each other; that is clearly visible in the photos.”
I would feel safer at Eve’s than on Stratumseind.
While Sexhibition is being set up on the monumental first floor of music venue Willem Twee, Mistress Eve explains that the image of BDSM still leaves much to be desired. “It is seen as violent and painful, but what I experience with my clients is actually love and gentleness. I actually hope that people see that in Hanneke’s work as well. I hope that from now on they will think a little more softly about BDSM.”
Artist Hanneke agrees with her: “That caring was very beautiful to see and feel. It revolves entirely around consent. Nothing happens without the other person’s consent. Something you sometimes miss in the normal world. I would feel safer at Eve’s than on Stratumseind, where anyone can just put a hand on your butt.”
The photos, a triptych, thus show Eve at work with her client. In a very gentle way. Hanneke took the photos in a special way: “I took a double exposure with the camera. I first took a photo of the face and then of the hands. By pressing twice, they overlap. It had to be right the first time.”
We really want to start the conversation.
The artworks on display at the exhibition are meant to stimulate the conversation about sex work, Eve explains. “We all want to be seen, heard, and loved. When you meet each other on this level, prejudices fade away. I really hope that has happened between the artists and their muse (the sex workers), but it can happen again with the visitors later on. We really want to start the conversation.”
That can also be taken literally, because not only at the exhibition but also at the surrounding public program, there are always sex workers present with whom you can strike up a conversation. Next to the artwork about SM mistress Eve, there is a mailbox where questions can be asked of Eve. She is going to try to answer them all.
Eve is not the real name of the SM mistress. Her real name is known to the editors.
Sexhibition is on view from August 14 to September 20 in the art space of pop venue Willem Twee in Den Bosch. Admission is free.
