A canal of whores at the London Gallery
The Hoerengracht (literally ‘whore canal’) is the clever name of an exhibition by Americans Ed and Nancy Kienholz currently at the National Gallery in London featuring ‘an artistic re-creation of Amsterdam’s red light district’.
Althought the play on words is excellent, this sentence, however, is rubbish: “The Herengracht, or Gentlemen’s Canal, is home to Amsterdam’s prostitutes, who famously sit in windows to ply their trade.”
The Herengracht has beautiful houses, lawyers, offices, a few nice restaurants, but no whores. The nearest girls are on the Spui, roughly two streets down. So much for fact checking.
Someone on television said this exhibition would come to Amsterdam, and I wonder why anyone would bother looking at some artsy-farty rendering of the real thing when we can go, see and even experience the real thing. I could be missing the point, who knows.
(Link: independent.co.uk, Photo is Red Light District of The Hague)
Yes, my first time in A’dam, I stayed at a place on H’gracht. Rather tame in comparison to surrounding areas.
Maybe it’s some wit against lawyers…being abstracted prostitutes and working on whatever cause as long the money’s right? Doubtful, but I’m trying to help the artists out here.
More art by Ed and Nancy Kienholz link