Asheville has been flirting with nudity in its various forms for some time.
There was Ukiah Morrison’s thong-and-body-paint-clad campaign for mayor (prompting Rolling Stone, in 1998, to declare Asheville “America’s new freak capital”).
There are the annual clothing optional bike rides and occasional appearances by transgender PETA activist Kayla Rae who’d rather go naked than wear fur.
There have also been erotic art events, usually poetry or visual art, surrounding Valentine’s Day in ironic, edgy, film noir atmospheres promising cool high art rather than sweaty porn.
In the next bid for the not-so-crude nude event, Club Hairspray announces that it will kick off its Gallery Sundays on Oct. 8 with an erotic photography contest and student art film. The following week, Sunday, Oct. 14) features photographer Steven Ness whose work was published in the 2001 collection Naked Women. (For more on these exhibits, call 258-2027.)
Know of any similar events? Let us know.
—Alli Marshall, A&E reporter
