Tetsumi Kudo’s caged phallus sculptures at Hauser + Wirth Hong Kong draw pity from women
- There were contrasting responses from men and women at the opening of a solo exhibition of the late Japanese artist’s works in Hong Kong
In many of Tetsumi Kudo’s “cage” sculptures on show at Hauser & Wirth, in Hong Kong’s Central district, groups of zoomorphic penises are kept like pets inside birdcages and fish tanks.
Those resembling larvae are fed on pills placed in the feeders and exhibit various stages of wellness and metamorphoses: some are preening in radioactive phosphorescence; some are pale and covered in grotesque pustules; others are encased in silk-covered cocoons from which they will emerge as new hybrids.
In other cages and tanks, phallus-shaped snails and sea creatures live among real snails and real fish (or rather, models of them), perhaps yearning for full transformation like The Little Mermaid.
Not surprisingly, they stirred a great deal of interest during the solo exhibition’s opening reception on May 31.
The women peered at these trapped creatures with disdain and pity, with one suggesting they reminded her of a lot of men she knew, and another saying they must be Kudo’s critique of toxic masculinity. The men just looked sheepish and slightly pained.
