September 8-30, 2022
Philadelphia, PA - PRACTICE Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Eva Wo. FORBIDDEN CITY (A Peep Show Retrospective)” features several bodies of work including installation, digital collage, lenticular, self-portraiture and performance art. The exhibition will also debut a live, interactive “peep show” booth, a NSFW playing card deck to take home, as well as a conjoining retrospective of over twenty short films, produced between 2015 and 2022.
The focal point of Wo’s multidisciplinary practice is to both imagine and call-in a vivid utopian future of uncensored gender and sexual self-determination for all. To achieve this, the bold and colorful works that comprise FORBIDDEN CITY embrace the tension between the joyous and the obscene by way of sweaty play within the boundlessness of queer freak sexuality. In joyous celebration, Wo realizes a truly free, pro-sex work and pro-porn universe.
At the beating heart of FORBIDDEN CITY is its interactive peep show. Inspired by the pulsating neon street signs of 70s Times Square, Wo’s free-standing, interactive INFINITE PEEP show booth is adorned with an elaborate and glitzy scalloped edge, flashing light bulbs and an opening universe right before your eyes. Activate for the price of one creep coin, a free sample of which to first 100 visitors. Once the viewer inserts a pleasure coin and peers through the peep hole, a world of flowers, mirrors, lights and live performance art opens up before their eyes.
Wo’s film retrospective offers the viewer an opportunity to experience unadulterated queer/trans creativity and sexuality on screen. Throughout their rich archive of sci-fi feverdreams, playfully erotic photoshoots and lesbionic strip teases, Wo creates other worlds to abandon the otherwise transphobic and cisnormative status quo in porn.
Wo’s dynamic pin-up playing card deck, Sun Bunny NSFW Playing Cards (2022), also joins these themes in a whimsical, hand-held medium. Whereas traditional pin-up cards depict women in risqué poses by male artists, Wo’s cards recenter the sexual autonomy of the figure in the frame. Erotic, colorful and audacious, each card collages an original photo of the artist by Shoog McDaniel, resulting in a lush and seductive deck unlike any other.
For more information, visit practicegallery.org
Visitor Information
PRACTICE Gallery
319 N 11th St, 2nd Floor, Unit 2G
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Exhibition will be open from Sept. 8 - Sept. 30 2022 with opening receptions* on Thursday Sept 8, Friday Sept 9, and Friday Sept 30 from 6-10 p.m. Admission is free. Masks provided and required. Suitable only for ages 18 & up.
Opening receptions include durational live performances by West Vargina, Eppchez, Mia Secreto and other special guests. Special after hours short film screening upstairs at Vox Populi’s black box theater beginning at 10pm immediately after September 9 reception. ~60 minutes.
The Gallery is open to the public on First Fridays and on weekends from 2-6 p.m. If you would like to drop by some other time please e-mail info@practicegallery.org for an appointment.
Accessibility Statement: There are five steps leading from the street-level to the first-floor landing where the passenger elevator picks-up/drops-off. The entry into/out of the elevator is 29-inches wide, so may not accommodate all wheelchairs or motorized chairs. Please get in touch if you need a ramp or have other questions.
PRESS: Timaree Schmitt, “Forbidden City,” Philadelphia Weekly, September 5 2022
Photos by Rich Hogan
