Photo by Dennis Covey
“Wild Coctus in Spring Carousel” by Dennis Covey
When Mesheeka Gallery owner Manuel Basabe’s mentor, famed Chicano artist Salvador Torres, first suggested he hold a phallus-themed art show, Basabe was naturally hesitant. However, Torres told him that, while hospitalized, he’d found his own erection the only interesting subject to draw, but that the nurses had found it inappropriate and confiscated Torres’ sketchpad. Knowing Basabe’s hatred of art censorship, Torres suggested that he be the one to host such a taboo show.
“‘Are you an art censor?’” Basabe says Torres asked him. “And I said ‘No,’ and he said ‘Are you a homophobe’ and I said ‘No,’ and he’s like ‘Are you afraid that you’re going to get turned on being around a bunch of penises in the gallery?’ And I was like ‘No,’ and he’s like ‘Okay, what’s the problem then?”
Basabe says that before he went to sleep that night, he’d already decided to go through with it. That was before Mesheeka Gallery’s first penis-themed art show three years ago. The exhibit, previously called Members Only, has been rebranded this year as Phallusy. The show will include 30 artists, most of whom are local, including special effects artist and costume photographer Dennis Covey, who exhibited a wall covered in glow-in-the-dark penises at last year’s exhibit. Basabe has specifically requested that the artists create pieces with erect penises, since that’s an image largely banned in museums and traditional spaces.
“Art censorship is huge in the art world, especially here in San Diego it’s super conservative,” says Basabe. “Also homophobia too, we have a large homosexual population in San Diego and there’s a lot of homophobic people… and I really wanted to pull all of these issues to the front in an uncomfortable way and have people talk about it and address their own flaws, maybe, that they have inside themselves.”
Basabe says he received a lot of criticism from Barrio Logan’s Chicano art community the first time he put on the show. While doing outreach, people would throw the fliers back at him. But that further convinced him of the show’s necessity. Now, he’s had heterosexual men come into the gallery telling him the show has widened their perspective and that they look forward to attending the upcoming exhibit.
Phallusy opens at Mesheeka Gallery (2113 Logan Ave.) on Friday, July 6 from 6 to 11: 30 p.m. with a suggested donation of $3. The reception will have a DJ, as well as a 6-foot-long phallus that people can sit on for a photo op, as well as penis-shaped popsicles, lollipops and cookies. Basabe also has an artist talk planned for Saturday, July 14 from 6 to 7 p.m.
“I’m not homosexual, but I know that my friends that are gay go through so much, so much hatred, and I wanted to try and open minds.”