Tag Archives: Guggenheim Museum

Kotex confronts art world taboo with ‘Art’s Missing Period’ campaign

The art world has succumbed to controversy via a graphic outdoor display of the menstrual period. Continuing education of health issues is in the public interest so why is this display so disturbing to some?

Singapore – Kotex has launched a global campaign highlighting the absence of menstrual blood in mainstream art, positioning it as a long-standing form of cultural censorship.

Developed with DAVID London and Ogilvy Singapore, “Art’s Missing Period” brings together works that were previously rejected by galleries or removed from public display due to their depiction of menstruation. 

The campaign reframes the issue as one of visibility, arguing that while violent imagery involving blood is widely accepted, menstrual blood remains excluded.

Kotex revives banned art showing period blood

“Visibility shapes culture, and we set out to change both,” said Genevieve Gransden, Executive Creative Director at DAVID London. 

“This is not just a campaign. It is a restoration of voices, narrative and art that deserves to be seen,” said Selma Ahmed, Executive Creative Director at DAVID London.

The campaign includes a short documentary directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Kathryn Everett and narrated by journalist Noor Tagouri. 

The film examines how depictions of blood tied to violence are widely shown, while menstrual blood is treated as taboo, and features accounts from artists who have faced rejection linked to the theme.

Beyond film, Kotex has rolled out mobile billboards and street posters outside major museums, including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. 

The placements position the campaign directly at the doorstep of institutions central to shaping public art discourse.

QR codes embedded in these placements direct audiences to a virtual gallery hosting more than 40 artworks centred on menstruation. 

The online platform, launched on April 6, 2026, will run for one year and is designed to provide a dedicated space for artists and exhibitions exploring the subject.

The campaign marks Kotex’s latest effort to address stigma around periods, shifting the conversation from product messaging to broader cultural representation.

Thanks to Sharona Nicole Semilla of Marketech APAC for contributing this article

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.





Images: Potent Portraits of Creative Expression

Images have a way of striking our emotions. Creativity is fueled. Emotions are stoked.

Some folks get upset, angry, sad. Others become calm, excited, enthusiastic, joyful.

Shock, horror, puzzlement, admiration.

Some find peace while others find fear. Art and photography have a way of doing this. Museums and art galleries tend to bring these feelings out in all of us.

These past few months I’ve come across a variety of different images, different ways of conveying creativity. Since that’s what this blog is all about, I thought I’d share  a taste of what I’ve viewed.

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“Pamela’s Voice” in Night Gallery

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Guggenheim Museum in New York, and, yes, even Rod Serling’s Night Gallery in your mind are fine examples of artistic and creative expression. Those of you outside the U.S. who may not be familiar with Mr. Serling may find this rather intriguing regarding the paintings featured in his Night Gallery.

 

A few weeks ago I wrote about a summer conference I attended at Houston’s Jung Center on Imagination. As they often do, the Center featured several paintings on display at that time. A few caught my eye for one reason or another. If you’d like more information about these images, please contact The Jung Center.

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“Chaos” – Margaret Wheeler (Grami)

I was struck by the vibrant colors immersed onto a dark background, but with areas of white and yellow stubbornly bursting through. I thought, “Chaos, indeed, but in a quiet, peaceful setting.”

 

 

 

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“Rising” – Kutani Village, Japan – Roy Spann

 

I just thought this was a neat photograph. Then, the more I looked at it, I thought . . . “Hmmmm, umbrellas in variety of colors . . . would make an interesting ad for Travelers Insurance.”

 

 

 

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“Protector” – Tamer Ghoneim

This reminded me of some very cool abstract art that Apple may have for a screen saver, very vibrant in colors – you can’t take your eyes off it. I couldn’t. It’s actually a photo print on metal.

 

 

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Part of the Vanzant Driver presentation, “The Street of Heaven Was As Glass”

 

Vanzant’s discussion was intriguing on “The Visionary Imagination” alongside Jay Wehnert. This illustration was one of several artistic expressions presented that challenged the “boundaries of the imagination.”

These next two images below were not part of the Jung Center’s exhibit, but two very different photographs that caught my eye.

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Iconic Statue on the Notre Dame campus

This first one was sent to me from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN as part of a Thank You for supporting the university.

It captures one of the iconic statues on campus during Winter with the Golden Dome peaking out from the background. Note the areas of snow  acting as “winter eyebrows.”

This second one was an ad I saw in a publication, Arts+Culture, based in Dallas, Texas. It’s one fine publication covering the arts and culture scene in Texas.

The photo immediately captured my attention because I wasn’t sure if I saw what I thought I saw: A young girl “shooting the bird.” Then I read the caption: “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” Thomas Jefferson said that and I’m inclined to agree.

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“Nic Noblique – Sculptor” – photo of Azo by her mom, Audra Sewell Noblique.

The ad is for Nic Noblique -Sculptor. When I emailed Nic for permission to run the ad featuring his daughter, he told me the ad had received quite a few comments and he’d gotten good response from it. The photo, taken a few years ago when Azo was seven (she’s now 12), afforded their daughter the opportunity to flip the bird and “get it out of her system.”

I applaud both Nic and his wife Audra, not to mention their daughter, for having the guts to run an ad like this, and Arts+Culture Magazine for having the maturity to approve it for publication.

Art is a very subjective medium. Advertising can be as well. Both can be perplexing. As varied as our society is today, so are the images we confront.

Kudos to the creatives and artists who continue to push the envelope with taste and style and who entice our imagination and intrigue our minds.

And a thank you to those museums and galleries who think enough of the contributions to our collective, creative universe to exhibit and publish these works.

To the creators, go the spoils.

To the viewers, go the enjoyment.

To everyone, onward. Create!