No breasts allowed to be seen in Norfolk, Virginia
You may recall that a while back I curated a student show titled "Early Look" for the Longview Gallery in DC.
That show featured work by undergrad art students from schools along the Mid Atlantic, and although ignored completely by the Washington press, it did rather well and sold a few key pieces at the show.
It also sparkled the interest of a second gallery in Norfolk, Virginia, Mayer Fine Arts, which offered the students a chance to exhibit their work in Norfolk.
This is how one of the student's work (Martyrdom by Philadelphia artist Erika Risko) was displayed in DC without any issues, and how it was then also hung and displayed for a few days in Norfolk:
Soon after the opening, the gallery owner received official communications directing was directed by the building's management to cover up the offending breasts. This is what they look like now:
And yet once again: Norfolk, please take the troglodyte spot light and be embarrassed in front of all America and the world.
Update: The owner has clarified to me that the building management's request to her to move the piece was because "people had complained about the nudity," and not because the management initiated the issue.
Friday, July 25, 2008
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16 comments:
you've got to be fucking kidding.
Putting paper plates over the breasts just adds insult to injury. If I were the artist, I would rather the gallery just take my piece down than cover a part of it up so tackily.
The gallery owner shouldn't have capitulated to those "official communications." I wonder who exactly they were from?
No!
Whatever you do, never take the work down... make the idiots look foolish is the best offense to show that censoring the human body is an insult against art and our own image...
True, true... I just hope that gallery lets people know that those paper plates are NOT part of the artwork.
I agree, if you take it down, then the terrorists win.
I can still see the belly button which is where the umbilical cord goes which makes me think about sex so I would appreciate it if they would cover that up too! ;P
Who was this "official" communication from?
Who was this "official" communication from?
Wow, I believe this was a piece by a graduate of Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, right? I seem to remember it from the thesis show in May. If it had been done by a male artist, bet they wouldn't have made such a fuss!
Come to think of it, the state seal has a boob in it. Clearly we need more Styrofoam!
Re: "who was the communications from?"
Call the gallery and ask them... I wasn't sure if they wanted me to say who the idiots were by title or name... But I'm sure that they'd tell callers...
I think that the gallery is planning a "falsies" decorating party to make fun of the absurdity of this event...
Yep! It is by a Moore graduate... As soon as I get back home I will I'd the artist by name...
A quick follow up so that folks know I was being sarcastic, as I often am.
Please post the name of the complainers, Lenny! Isn't there a law that states that an accuser's identity cannot be kept from the accusee?
I'll ask the gallerist to see if I can publish the complaint originator without getting her kicked out of the bldg
By the way, they are not paper towels but paper plates, and the the owners has invited the public to decorate them.
The nude was considered in bad taste and offensive. By allowing the public to create tasteless pasties for her, the gallery is hopping to show how ridiculous this issue is, and that the public thinks so as well.
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