There’s a lot of death and sex in the new permanent collection at GMF

SHADOW PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS | Shine a light on a sculpture of penises and hands and they become silhouettes of the artists, right; Damien Hirst’s gruesome take on St. Sebastian with a calf carcass contrasts with a one-armed gorilla in the background, left. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)

When the Goss-Michael Foundation opened four years ago on Cedar Springs, it mounted mostly solo shows of British artists pulled from the substantial collection of the gallery’s co-owners,  Kenny Goss and George Michael.

Now, the GMF has new, bigger digs (in the Design District), a renewed mission and the real estate to show a broader spectrum of art.

The current exhibit combines pieces from the prior exhibitions, including Damien Hirst’s gruesome St. Sebastian, Exquisite Pain (a calf peppered with arrows trussed up in formaldehyde), Sarah Lucas’ Pepsi & Cocky (intertwined legs of two female ballet dancer) and Adam McEwen’s collection of fantasy obituaries, and in one place you realize: These are some twisted fucks.

Homoerotic sexuality and mortality are recurrent themes across the panorama of pieces here, often in fascinating ways (as if the theme itself weren’t fascinating enough). Chief among the intriguing works:  A sculpture of penises and human hands which cast shadows of the artists and

The color combo of the video portrait of co-owner George Michael will never be seen again. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)

explicit drawings of sex that are creepily authentic. You won’t see this stuff anywhere else. And that’s enough reason to seek it out.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

Goss-Michael Foundation, 1405 Turtle Creek Blvd. Through Feb. 28, 2011. Free.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition December 3, 2010.