Erotic Art in the Arab World -- Today

Two women painters show images of fetishism, homosexuality, masturbation in Beirut art show:

Artists Nayla Karam and Maria Sarkis are displaying their Warhol-like pop art in a joint exhibition at a gallery in the Lebanese capital's northern Christian suburbs.

In "Auto-eroticism" for example, Sarkis presents a sensual depiction in green and pink of a woman who may be masturbating, a hand under her panties.

In yet brighter colours but smooth lines, another painting called "The Mirror" shows a close encounter between the faces and breasts of two apparent lesbians.

"I've been working on the theme of eroticism for a year. The 'morally correct' is a relative question which changes with time," Sarkis said.

The fine arts graduate from the Lebanese University, who is in her twenties, said: "In the 19th century (French artist) Gustave Courbet was banned from the universal exhibition of 1855.

"Today, he is considered one of the great masters of the Realist movement," she added, referring to Courbet's "The Origin of the World" which shocked many people of the time with its graphic depiction of female genitalia.

These women face more than the issue of 'Time' and its passing to make themselves and their art more acceptable:

Leon Khanamirian, a 25-year-old banker, said that "in the Middle East, men are allowed to express their sexual fantasies in a vulgar manner, but when (women) artists paint sexuality, it suddenly becomes a scandal."

Hassan Mekdad, 52, called the paintings shocking, however.

"The artists would have been killed if they lived in an Islamic neighbourhood," he said.