Tal R's Sexshop Paintings Explore Pleasure and Mystery at Victoria Miro

Tal R's Sexshop paintings challenge contemporary art's avoidance of pleasure through geometric abstraction. The Israel-born, Copenhagen-based artist presents facades of actual sex shops, including works like The pleasure (2017), Bar Farao, Paris Chic, and Dirty Dick (all 2017). These paintings reference turn-of-the-century artists Piet Mondrian and Hilma af Klint, alongside Colour Field painter Morris Louis. Tal R has created 30 paintings and 100 drawings of sex shops over three years. The exhibition 'Tal R: Sexshops' runs at Victoria Miro on Wharf Road, London through 20 December 2017. Simultaneously, 'Academy of Tal R' opens at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam from 14 October 2017 to 21 January 2018. The artist discusses mystery in painting, citing Francis Bacon's view that artists should deepen mystery. Tal R notes he never enters sex shops, strip joints, gay clubs, or swinger clubs, emphasizing the private nature of these spaces. His works create privacy through abstraction rather than representing it directly.