The Exhibitionist: Eike & Sheila

In “Sex & City” at the Mill Gallery, prepare to meet favorite body parts, some exuding steamy essence, perhaps in closeup or on figures in interlocking embrace; extended tongues in cheeky gestures; a neon phallus; red vinyl lips. If it all becomes exhausting, there are twin bathtubs inviting visitors to step in, relax, lean back on the cushions, hold hands and—what are these pills? A twisted torrent of limbs—swans wearing the torsos and legs of ballet dancers— tumbles down two stories at the center of the space. Indeed, this exhibition of work by Sheila Halligan-Waltz and Eike Waltz screams SEX. It doesn’t mean it. The works are erotically posed but not erotic. They are stories circling a central idea. “Sex & City” is not an exhibition of art objects. The exhibition is the artwork, and the subject is living passionately.
What a pair they are, Sheila & Eike: she from a small Illinois town, then Chicago, where she began her art studies at the Art Institute before moving to Santa Cruz and meeting Eike, who had been a ballet dancer in Munich, then MFA graduate of the Royal College of Art in London with a concurrent degree in industrial design and a successful engineering and business career. Over the years they each and together continued and deepened their art practice, expressing their shared political views through art, aiming to effect change thereby.
To do this, Sheila & Eike mounted exhibitions: “Outrage” in San Francisco in 2004 and “Outrage/Outreach” in 2006, “Out” in 2008 and now “Sex & City” in the Mill Gallery in Santa Cruz. Sheila paints sometimes massive canvases in whatever style suits the message, at times also working in collage or bronze sculpture. Eike calls his sculptures Sculpitti—3-D graffiti—in bronze, fiberglass and plaster. Biannually, they hire a huge space for a month, install their artwork, staff it every day themselves, converse with all comers and produce performances related to their theme. The performances have included cabaret-style theater and music, fashion runway, comedy, dance, film and improv featuring local artists. Their first three exhibits expressed objection to the Bush administration policies, and in “Sex” they grapple with the hypocrisy of the institutional enforcement of morals. Nothing is for sale. They are their own curators. Some of the individual pieces are exquisite artworks, others are simply signboards for a message.
It is in the totality of each exhibition that Sheila & Eike are successful. “Sex & City” ends Oct. 1 with performances beginning at 6pm. This is the final exhibition for the Mill Gallery, which Sheila & Eike inaugurated as an ongoing art space in 2006.