Ten years in the nude

Oklahoma’s sexiest art show celebrates a decade of breaking cultural barriers

During the day, Vanity Halston dresses in T-shirts and ball caps — typical dude attire. When performing, Halston transforms into a bombshell, a drag queen with bright blond hair and stained lips.

Halston incorporated “reverse drag” into his song performance at last year’s Nude art show. He began in full drag, removing the dress, wig, and makeup and replacing them with his daytime uniform. By the time he left the stage, everyone was wondering whether there was such a thing as “just a regular Joe.” 

“For months, people told me how my performance made them feel. It was a little overwhelming for me to hear how it affected them — made them cry, made them realize what it’s like day-to-day as someone in my profession,” said Halston.

His performance yielded a standing ovation. Nude:X, “A Decade Later,” will be his encore.

Nude:X, a 21-and-older show, will be held at the IDL Ballroom later this month, and organizers expect around 2,000 attendees. Nude and erotic art has always been front and center at the show, along with burlesque and drag. Not much is off-limits, but there are a few rules. For example, no sexual penetration is allowed in the art and performers must keep their bathing-suit areas covered.

“Nudity…the absence of clothing; bare; naked. I think culturally the term can be synonymous with vulnerability,” wrote Written Quincey. The spoken-word artist has been busy preparing for the annual show. Quincy, easy to spot in his long dreads at several of Tulsa’s open-mic and performance-poetry events, believes artists cultivate nudity as a metaphor for honest emotion.

Halston believes the Nude show helps break through harmful barriers since, here in the Bible-belt, nudity and shame are synonymous. He said, “Our bodies are nothing more than a canvas that should be explored, stimulated, experienced, and aroused. There is no painting the same, just as there is no body the same.”

I visited self-proclaimed conservative artist Kristal Wheeler, who is preparing for her first Nude show. That Nude is in its tenth year was a reason Wheeler decided to participate. She said,

“It was one of those moments where I was like, that’s really saying something for Tulsa.”

The sexual in art doesn’t bother Wheeler, but she isn’t a fan of the overly erotic. Three of her paintings for the show depict comic-book characters. One is Catwoman, whispering in Batman’s ear. Another is Wonder Woman with a semi-transparent top. In a Superwoman painting, Wheeler gives spectators X-ray vision to peek at her breasts. Wheeler attends Church on the Move, and her spouse jokes about the possibility of being seen by church members at the show.

Artist Jeff Brame has two pieces he readied for the show depict comic characters also. I saw them at Colour Gallery, at 15th and Harvard. His paintings pay respect to the traditional comic-book style, more so than Wheelers, with plenty of smooth, bright colors. Rather than focus on nudity, Brame approached the subject of sexual orientation: Batman smooches Superman in one piece, a pair of superheroines appear post-kiss in another, their tongues linked by a shining string of saliva.

Nude:X: “A Decade Later” is set for March 28 and 29, 8 p.m. – 2 a.m. at IDL Ballroom, 1st and Detroit Ave. Tickets can be purchased at Colour Gallery, 1532 S. Harvard Ave. More at nudeartshow.com.