EDITORIAL

Sex sells, and this year has been particularly instructive in just how often this old chestnut can be cracked open and still yield fresh pickings.

On the big screen, Hollywood has witnessed the coming of age of the gay movie, with the cowboy romance, Brokeback Mountain, leading the charge and lassoing four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

On the home front, we've watched - or will be watching - men hamming it up in drag. Cross-dressing seems to be the new shock-and-awe tactic as Action Theatre, Wild Rice and Theatreworks ransack the closet to bring on the feather boas, sequin and kimono.

What tops the bill must surely be the unveiling of the Crazy Horse Paris cabaret at Clarke Quay. Of course, topless shows are not exactly new on the block, having been the main draw at the Neptune Theatre restaurant since the 1980s. But what sets l'art du nu (the art of the nude) apart is drawing very starkly in the sand the line separating sleaze from class.

Naturally, these developments in the arts must attract their fair share of flak and knee-jerk reactions. This is what our new issue of art-e is about: asking questions about the can of worms being opened when sex is used to sell art.