While you should feel free to peruse all of the amazing art on your own, we highly encourage you to take part in one (or many!) of our guided art tours. SEAF 2019 art tours are led by carefully selected artists and art enthusiasts. Go on a journey throughout the festival, viewing art through their personal “lens”. By the time you’ve completed your tour, you’ll find that with erotic art, there’s more than meets the eye. Learn more about our art tours below. Then take a look at our Festival Schedule to plan out your itinerary. Note: most tours start at the Art Buyer’s Lounge, next to the Big Red Ladder with white and red lights.
Friday Tours
6:30pm – Peter is a disability activist, performer, and long time supporter of SEAF, including serving as a visual art juror once. Examine a selection of art traversing themes of humor, disability, politics, and other pieces in the exhibition that tickled Peter’s fancy.
7:30pm – Tatyana Brown is excited to share her thoughts about her printmaking art in the exhibition. “Born and educated in St. Petersburg, Russia, I demonstrated a keen interest and exceptional talent for artistic expression at an early age, which led to extensive art education at famed State Russian Museum and State Hermitage Museum. I earned a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Architecture and Engineering in St-Petersburg. The mainly black and white graphics – with the occasional splash of color – communicate my passion for life and art.”
Friday and Saturday Tours
Explore the interactive installations with Installations Curator, Andrew Moran. You will get to hear stories about his work with the artists and getting these experiential pieces of art into the festival. At the end of the tour, Andrew will extend an invitation to those who wish to discuss the darker side of sexuality to watch a short movie by Master of Erotic Art John Santerineross that is not available at any other time during the festival. Content warning will be provided before any disturbing imagery will be shown. You can join this tour on Friday at 8:00pm, and Saturday at 4:30pm or 8:00pm.
7:00pm – Sophia Iannicelli, festival director, will take Art Activist members on an art tour where she shares some of the more interesting stories about how the art was selected by the jury. This tour will start in front of the VIP Velvet Cabaret.
Writer’s Wanderlust is where the Literary Anthology authors and specially invited poets create ekphrasis (a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art) in reaction to the accepted art of the exhibition. You can hear these marvels on Friday at 8:30pm, and Saturday at 7:15pm.
Although “ekphrasis” is a relatively new entry in our dictionary, the practice of using words to comment on a piece of visual art is an ancient one. One of the earliest and most commonly cited forms of ekphrasis occurs in The Iliad, when Homer provides a long and discursive account of the elaborate scenes embossed on the shield of Achilles. It should be no surprise, then, that the term ekphrasis derives from Greek, where it literally means “description” and was formed by combining the prefixex- (“out”) with the verb “phrazein” (“to point out or explain”). “Ekphrasis” first appeared in English in the early 18th century. The Writer’s Wanderlust tour is based on this concept and will start at the Literary Lair.
You will have two chances to join returning SEAF artist Jennifer Jigour; Friday at 9:00pm & Saturday at 6:30pm. Expect a dynamic, theatrical and erotic art tour! Jennifer paints scenes that are out of this world, in nature, inspired by travel and history, and the sensual complexities of our inner world.
Saturday Tours
1:30pm – Echo Chernik paints sexy, beautiful and confident women and she invites you to her the stories behind her art. Her women aren’t afraid to be beautiful, and are body positive with themselves. The viewer is invited to share in their atmosphere. Echo has been a successful award winning art nouveau advertising illustrator for the past 25 years, and is recently exploring fine art nudes.
3:30pm – Authenticityi, an independent artist living in Seattle, enjoys art about women made by women. She finds something empowering about women exploring and defining sex and the female experience for themselves. Join her for stories about her own art and other pieces in the exhibition.
5:00pm – David Steinberg has been photographing couples engaged in sex since 1999 and has photographed over 160 couples. He is also known for his portraits of transsexual women and his revealing photos at kink.com. This year, he helped secure 2 pieces by Jan Saudek to be shown in the exhibition. Learn more about this famous artist from Prague.
8:30pm – Dani has been a crafter for most of her life. She enjoys discovering the nuances and level of craftsmanship in the fiber arts. Join Dani for a tour of the pieces of fiber art in the festival from the naughty to the sublime.
Sunday Tours
3:00pm – members of the 2019 Visual Art Jury. Continue the conversation after the Jury Panel Discussion while strolling though the exhibition, sharing their thoughts about selecting the visual art.
Art Docents
If you miss a tour, make sure to visit the Art Docents in the Art Buyer’s Lounge or wandering the festival with their trademark white scarves. Docents have spent time learning about the art before the festival so they can answer your questions. And if you ask really nicely, you might even get them to go on a tour of the art with you!