SPRING #16 – Sex

How do you illustrate something that is extremely private, intimate and unique to all of us? Sex is inherently inscribed into human—and yet culturally one of the most elaborate themes of life. It connects and separates us, evokes the strongest emotions, can create identities and decide destinies. In sex, all aspects of existence merge in diverse and always individual ways. Sex is omnipresent as a topic, but still a big challenge for an illustration magazine.

In the current issue of SPRING 14 illustrators face this challenge. In their comics, illustrations and texts, they portray the evolutionary history of sexuality, share personal experiences of puberty, tell us about everyday sexism, ask what the absence of physicality actually does to us, and engage with female identities across generations. Entertaining and open, they visually stroll through the theme, telling us about digital vulvas, the blending of painting and the Japanese celebration of love.

SPRING was founded in 2004 in Hamburg. Since then, every summer a new volume of the anthology is published, which combines the different works from the fields of comics, illustration and free drawing into one topic each. Since the beginning, the group consists exclusively of women and has become a solid and important network for female illustrators in Germany.