All images courtesy the artists, @trollholenyc
In recent times, controversy and discussions over equality are becoming more and more important.
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Before Trump’s first day in office, rumors were whirling that the president plans to cut funding to the National Endowment for the Arts. The organization is a federal agency “whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities.” Should funding to the organization be eliminated, it will be up to small spaces across the country to keep the flame of controversy alive.
One such space is the Troll Hole.
It’s a feminist-sex-shop-gift-shop-book-shop-mini-gallery that operates behind a glittery curtain in a laundromat in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
The space was brought to life thanks to an Indiegogo campaign, led by Justin Shock, Hayley Blatt and Monica Yi. The store had its grand opening last year.
“If you’re into cosmic, glowing sex stuff, we’re your store,” Shock told DNA New York in July 2016.
The space supports art and projects made by people traditionally passed over by arts and politics—mainly women, people of color and an array of artists of different sexual and gender orientations.
Art for sale at the space ranges from zines to illustration to poetry from Warsan Shire (who was featured throughout Beyonce’s Lemonade). There are patches with the phrase “Dead men can’t catcall” and vagina soaps and moisturizers—although what’s on sale at the shop is constantly rotating. But there are always free condoms, pads, and tampons available to those who need them.
You can follow the Troll Hole on Instagram and Facebook or visit their website.
Related:
Inside New Mexico’s Body Shop-Turned-Art Gallery