Pornographic Reading (Temptations in the Desert Series), 1975

Private Collection, Winnipeg

Mary Jo Hughes, “The William Kurelek Theatre Presents William Kurelek An Epic Tragedy”, William Kurelek: The Messenger, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Art Gallery of Hamilton and Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2011, page 52 William Kurelek, Someone With Me, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1973, pages 236 and 450-51 Patricia Morley, Kurelek: A Biography, Toronto, 1986, pages 220 and 332 Joan Murray, Kurelek's Vision of Canada, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, 1982, pages 10-22 and 73

An example of the artist's twenty-work “Temptations in the Desert” series, “Pornographic Reading” explores the earthly and biblical vice of lust in a contemporary context. The series was produced for the purpose of exhibition in Olha and Mykola Kolankiwsky's Art Gallery and Museum near Niagara Falls. In this artwork from the series, Kurelek explores both the overarching vice of lust and his own personal conflict and discomfort with lust and sex as a young man. A self-described late bloomer, Kurelek had an aversion to his own sexuality weighed heavily by feelings of inferiority and guilt. As this series sought to represent temptations of evil and one's mortal duty to reconcile and resist these temptations, this work serves as a caution against such indulgences and vehicle to communicate his Christian values to the public. Highly detailed and vibrant, the artwork evokes a visceral energy prompting contemplation in the viewer to negotiate these temptations in a contemporary representation. Kurelek not only sought to paint a scene of moral downfall, but also the opportunity for salvation driven by discipline and self-awareness.