Blame the Blushing on the Booze: There are many motives in creating erotic art, whether it's to provoke arousal, explore sexuality or confront cultural taboos, and “Don’t Tell Mommy,” Athens’ fourth annual erotic art group show curated by Keith P. Rein, provides a solid cross-section of some of the genre’s most popular forms. Ranging from traditional tattoo flash, pinups and cartoons to multimedia light box installations and a fabric construction, a multitude of interpretations on erotic art are reflected from the dozen-plus participating artists.

While some works lie on the racier side, such as Jeremy Hughes’ extremely suggestive tease of a piece, “Fauxllatio,” others focus on emphasizing the simple beauty of the female form like Kelli Guinn-Olsson’s black-and-white photographs of nude women alone in nature. Terp Vairin’s gorgeous illustrations, “Bees (Fructose),” “Birds (Serotonin)” and “Bunnies (Oxytocin),” pair images of women with animals and chemical compounds, and are reminiscent of Art Noueveau absinthe campaigns. The simple pen-and-marker drawings of seductive girls by Olga Cisternas are similar in their ability to strike a delicate balance between provocativeness and vulnerability.

Joe Havasy's illustration "Girl in Trouble With Yarn Print Dress" is on display at the Engine Room through September.

Tattoo artist Graham Bradford’s piece, a colossal wood-stained portrait of a valiant lady posing with a saw blade and pig head, is hard to overlook, as it spans nearly the entire height of the wall. Joe Havasy contributes a bit of humor to the room with a vibrant SFW piece portraying a cartoon girl desperately trying to shake off the cats climbing all over her, and Dana Jo Cooley’s series of colorful acrylic paintings, seemingly abstract and innocent on first glance, reveal a naughtier side if you stare at them for long enough. From the freaky, chilling fetish scenes by neo-symbolist John Santerineross to the geeky, slightly unsettling depiction of Princess Leia by Doktorsour, the works collectively appeal to a pretty wide range of fancies.

Previously hosted at Walk the Line Tattoo as a one-night stand, “Don’t Tell Mommy” has moved to the recently reinstated Engine Room (235 W. Washington St.) to accommodate growth and will be on display through the month of September.

Michael McAleer's painting is on display at Visionary Growth Gallery through Dec. 31.

Matters of the Mind: Each artist of Visionary Growth Gallery’s (2400 Booger Hill Rd., Danielsville) upcoming exhibit, “Brained,” explores the body’s biggest boss, the brain, through works that reflect the relationships between neuroscience, physiology, perception and cognition. Perhaps providing the most literal example, Haru Park, a recent UGA graduate whose brains you may recall from the 2011 MFA Sculpture exit show at Lamar Dodd (and the May 26, 2010 Flagpole cover), will display “Mother Brain,” a larger-than-life creation weighing in at 700 pounds. Atlanta-based artist and retired medical illustrator from Emory University Grover Hogan creates works in which brain imagery and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder coalesce, and Michael McAleer of Suwanee, also diagnosed with OCD, presents conceptual paintings that further address mental health issues. The paintings of Athens local John Crowe similarly focus on ideas of physical and psychological imprisonment. (See the cover image.) Tim Gartrell of Jasper, who worked primarily in steel until suffering a stroke, now creates vibrant and impressively detailed paintings of animals and nature.

The exhibit will include nationally recognized, Florida-based photojournalist Bud Lee as a special guest artist. Throughout his accomplished career, Lee’s photos have been published by Rolling Stone, Vogue, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine and Columbia Records, and often featured portraits of cultural icons such as Andy Warhol, Clint Eastwood, Mick Jagger, The Lone Ranger Clayton Moore, Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini and French New Wave founder Francois Truffaut. Widely considered a scene-maker in the '70s by helping to develop the arts community of Tampa, FL, Lee established the Artist Filmmaker in the Schools program through a National Endowment for the Arts grant, the Artist and Writers Group and the annual Artists and Writers Ball, a series of wild costume parties created as a spoof on the exclusive Gasparilla festivals with themes like “Bad Taste in Outer Space” and “Cowboys and Indians in Love.” He shot tale-telling images of the '60s sexual revolution, the Manson murders and the Civil Rights Movement, one of which, a horrifying photo of a 12-year-old boy wounded in the crossfire between a police officer and looter during the Newark urban riots, earned him Life magazine’s 1967 “Photographer of the Year” award. Although he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2003 that left him partially deaf and blind and paralyzed on one side of his body, Lee continues to make art, albeit in new media. The gallery will present a collection of his recent drawings and paintings demonstrating his perseverance as a featured part of the exhibit.

“Brained” opens on Sunday, Sept. 16 and will be on display during gallery hours, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., and by appointment through Dec. 31. An opening reception with the artists will be held on Sept. 16, from 2–6 p.m.