EL painter shunned at home for his penis art

Many East London residents may not get the hidden symbolism in nude male artworks by Bernard Barry, but that does not mean a Karoo dominee doesn’t.

“People in East London don’t look beyond the penis,” said Barry. “They see it as pervy.”

Although the “East London Bible belt” – which Barry says is very Calvinistic – may not be ready for the other side of his art, people in the rest of the country are highly appreciative.

Exhibiting several male nudes at the Phallos Erotic Art Gallery at Bon Tempo on the outskirts of Grahamstown during the National Arts Festival, the full-time artist says he does not consider his work X-rated.

According to Barry, people needed to be like the Karoo farmers and the local dominee who visited a similar exhibition he had at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK).

“I was well received at the KKNK. Farmers saw beyond the penis and asked sophisticated questions.

“A dominee from Oudtshoorn came three times because he understood Christianity and saw the symbolism in the work.”

Although his flower and other tamer paintings sell like hot cakes in East London – “strangely, to men” Barry explains – the market is not so hot for the male nudes, unlike other parts of the country.

“This work does sell very well. People who buy it are confident people who put it in their homes and don’t give a s*** what others think.”

Barry, who was raised Catholic but has since “lapsed”, said the symbolism behind the penises, eight white doves, all-seeing third eye and other religious symbols in his Ejaculate Conception painting was for a “more visually sophisticated and mature audience”.

The painting is the only Barry artwork on display at the Festival Art Gallery in town, with the rest tucked away at the “penis art” gallery outside town.

Situated at the Manley Flats farmhouse of erotic artists and doctors Claudia and Volkher von Lingeling, the exhibition also features penis artworks from around the world as well as other oddities that celebrate the male member.

According to Volkher, erotic artworks range in price from R150 for a clay penis bong to R25000 for Barry’s Ejaculate Conception.

Visitors are greeted by all sorts of phallic imagery before they even get into the “Phallery” where the artworks hang.

The front metal gate at Penis Farm, as the neighbours call it, boasts an erect penis. The plants are phallic shapes and so are the sculptures scattered across the property.

The permanent penis art gallery first opened six years ago at the couple’s 1820 Settler homestead after Volkher read a book on ancient Scandinavian phallic art and decided to host something “more daring” at the NAF.

“People were doing exhibitions about the colour grey and I thought that’s probably as dull as it could get.”

According to the couple, phallic art is neither new nor unique.

“Phallic art is and has been recognised all around the world – from the annual penis festival still being celebrated in Kawasaki, Japan, to the plethora of rock paintings by ancient Khoisan people depicting and celebrating the phallus right here in the Eastern Cape.”

Although Barry’s work takes centre stage at the gallery, 12 other artists from the around the world, including an architect, photographer and a doctor, also feature.

Volkher explained that thinking of the male penis as “shameful” was an un-African blemish of Victorian colonialism.

Though situated far from the festival, Claudia says the exhibition had been well received by people who make the effort to visit.

“There has been no negative reaction. Nobody would drive 20km and give a negative reaction,” she chuckled.

“They come here because they want to.” — davidm@dispatch.co.za