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New Art Exhibit `Innocence of Sexuality`

A new art exhibit is coming to the City of Angels. The works of Sophia Gasparian, Jason Houchen, Youshi Li, Karyn Raz, and many others will be featured in the `Innocence of Sexuality` show at Black Maria Gallery. With new and recent works by eight Los Angeles-area artists, the exhibition will open on January 14th, 2006.

Samuel Saga, curator of Black Maria Gallery and an artist participating in the `Innocence of Sexuality` exhibition, commented on the religious undertow of common perceptions of sexuality. `For purposes of social control, Christianity and Islam view sexuality as a source of evil,` he said. `The religious mindset ignores the fact that sexuality is just another name for human expression, albeit a powerful one, and that it`s present in us the moment we`re born. At puberty it`s already yanked out of its `natural` context and equated with sin, with unacceptable social behavior, obviously paving the way for all sorts of psychological issues. Our upcoming show is a tribute to the child-like in the sexual. It`s a celebration of the fact that an instinct which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the act of sexual consummation is also a hugely dynamic factor in all aspects of our lives.`

`As playful and oxymoronic as the title of the show may sound, there is in fact a serious side to it,` said Black Maria owner Zara Zeitountsian. `First, it`s a nod to certain essential freedoms, particularly considering that ultraconservative forces in this country seem dead-set on enforcing a puritanical set of conventions on the rest of us in social, as well as political and legal, terms. I think it`s important to take a stand, individually and collectively, against the blind demonization of sexuality, even at the risk of stating the obvious.`