There are museums across the globe honoring all sorts of topics: modern art, natural history, space. In South Florida, we're fortunate enough to have a museum honoring the timeless practice of doin' it.
Perhaps the most original house of art in Miami is the World Erotic Art Museum (WEAM) in South Beach, where all the works on display address some aspect of sex. This October, WEAM celebrates its eighth anniversary -- not with a bang, but with one famous blowjob.
Honoring the anniversary of the museum, WEAM will host Danforth Prince, president and founder of Blood Moon Productions, who will give a talk about one of the most recognizable names in the pornography industry: Linda Lovelace. Prince's company published the biography about Lovelace's life, Inside Linda Lovelace's Deep Throat, which was written by Prince's longtime writing partner, Darwin Porter.
Naomi Wilzig, owner and curator of WEAM, says the museum usually stays "away from porn and the general misconception that erotic art is porn," but "since it was not a milestone anniversary, we accepted doing a book signing and lecture as a unique addition to our celebration." Securing Prince for a lecture was purely coincidental, she says, adding, "What makes this acceptable at this time is that [Lovelace] repudiated her lifestyle and made outspoken changes."
Porter has also written various other investigative-style biographies about celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and the Gabor sisters, says Wilzig, so she's confident that as a publisher, Prince will offer excellent insight into Lovelace's life.
Though the museum director says Lovelace had no influence on Wilzig starting an erotic art collection, she does acknowledge that Lovelace "is a reflection on society since her main film, Deep Throat, was probably the most seen porn movie of all time."
Even though it's been more than 40 years since Deep Throat made headlines, Lovelace is still relevant in 2013 because of Amanda Seyfried's silver-screen portrayal of the porn star in Lovelace, which was released this past August, "so the subject has been brought out into public view again," Wilzig says.
That's not the only current Deep Throat connection. The museum, which began as a private collection of Wilzig's, is home to more than 4,000 works of art -- some of which comes from an estate in Coconut Grove where much of Deep Throat was filmed, Wilzig explains. "I purchased some of the artwork from the owner of the estate for World Erotic Art Museum, but it was only coincidental that some of the art pieces were erotic in nature and were not of Linda Lovelace."
The celebratory reception will take place Wednesday, October 16, beginning at 8 p.m. at the World Erotic Art Museum (1205 Washington Ave., Miami Beach). Admission for adults costs $15. Prince will speak about Lovelace's popular 1972 film and "lecture on the research done to complete the [book] project," Wilzig says. Porter's novel will be available for purchase at the event.
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