The Art of Arousal

Join moderator Richard Meyer and panelists, Dian Hanson, John Morace, and Artist-in-Resident alumnus Fausto as they discuss the many ways art can pique our interest.

This panel addresses the role of arousal in the making and viewing of art. What turns us on in the museum, gallery, or the art section of a bookstore that we don’t admit to others? How can we acknowledge sexual pleasure in the presence of art without shame or defensiveness? How does art arouse us in ways that go beyond the strictly sexual?

This talk is part of FXLK PLAY: Artists-in-Mischief, Devotion, and Mythmaking on view in West Hollywood’s Plumer Park, 19th February–19th March 2026, Thursday through Sunday Noon-5p

© 2025 THE JOHN BURTON HARTER FOUNDATION

Richard Meyer is Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor in Art History and Director of American Studies at Stanford University, where he teaches courses in modern and contemporary art, censorship, and gender and sexuality studies. He is the author of Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art and co-author, with Catherine Lord, of Art and Queer Culture. His most recent book, Master of the Two Left Feet: Morris Hirshfield Rediscovered is a study of a Brooklyn tailor and slipper-maker who, against all odds, achieved international recognition as a self-taught painter in the 1940s.

Dian Hanson has been TASCHEN Publishing’s “sexy book” editor and writer since 2001. While with TASCHEN, she’s produced Tom of Finland: The Comic Collection, The Complete Kake Comics, and Tom of Finland XXL; Quaintance; Bob’s World and AMG 1000 Model Directory on the work of Physique Pictorial’s Bob Mizer; My Buddy, amateur nudes by and of WWII military men; the ever popular Big Penis Book; and the only book on Ren Hang, before his death at age 29. Pre-TASCHEN, Dian produced sex magazines for Mavety Media for 15 years, working on JUGGS and Leg Show. Her experience at Mavety taught her that arousal is unique to each individual, often unpredictable, and that more JUGGS subscribers than one would ever imagine were also reading Inches.

John Morace is an art collector with over 40 years of experience. During that time, he advised collectors on building collections and helped revive interest in several important artists’ estates, including Tom of Finland, John Boscovich and Nam June Paik. Currently, John is assisting ZIAN Gallery, in Hangzhou, China to develop their strategy and plan. He’s enjoyed every day he has spent collecting, speaking, and advising about art collection. There is always something interesting to see, and even if there isn’t, there is plenty to think about, and too many ways to spend money.

Fausto was born in 1972 in East Germany, Berlin. He studied medicine, specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He has worked and trained in Berlin, Zurich, Vogtareuth (Bavaria) and Tuebingen. In 2009 he changed from hospital work to administration of German national health care. At the same time, he started an artistic career as a painter and has participated in several group shows in Germany. He was an artist–in-residence at Tom of Finland Foundation September–December 2024.

Note: TOM House is located on a residential street in Echo Park—we strongly encourage ride-share or public transit.