Maturity Is Overrated

It's one of life's great contradictions that when something is labeled "mature content," it almost always means it's going to appeal to your most immature nature. Credit the power of imagination for this dichotomy: The less you know about something, the more horrible/sexy or horribly sexy your imagination makes it. Take Columbo for instance. Columbo always dealt with murder and betrayal, two hallmarks of adult entertainment, but there wasn't a damn thing sexy about that show other than Peter Falk's always-open raincoat. And yet say "raincoat" and "mature content" and bam, sexy imagery erupts. The staff at Star Clipper (6392 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-725-9110 or www.starclipper.com) faces this problem every day. Bundled back issues of comics wrapped in plain brown paper receive sidelong glances from every paying customer due to their "mature content" label, but there's nothing in there as dirty as you might imagine. Especially if you're thinking along the lines of Japanese tentacle porn, you filthy bastard. But the snickers and knowing winks continue. Tired of the speculation, the Star Clipper staff has adapted the question, "What's in those comics?" into the Mature Readers Grab Bag Art Show. The walls of the gallery are wrapped with brown paper; art supplies are provided. All you need do now is draw on these walls what you think is going on in those mature comic bundles. Limericks are welcome, dirty doodles are expected, Tijuana Bible-styled drawings of Columbo are creepy but permissible — it's going to be a nasty-good time. The Mature Readers Grab Bag Art Show is created between 6 and 9 p.m. Friday, May 1, and the lurid work remains on display through Saturday, July 11.
May 1-July 11, 2009