Also, another thing about this that reminded me of Mapplethorpe is that the controversy seems to be around two pieces that will now be drapped in St. Louis. Much like the Mapplethorpe exhibition it was a small number of pieces that resulted in the raid and prosecution. I don’t think it was even the nude pics of…

OK. Thank you. The Piss Christ hysteria came before Cincinnati and Mapplethorpe. I thought it was the other way around.

Again, clearly my issue is the threat of censorship or forced resignation over a exhibition. Citizen speech can become a raid by the authorities, like Mapplethorpe. Criticize, discuss, contemplate but not censorship or the chilling effect of forcing a resignation of the curator. Or hey, don’t go to the event, but…

Then absolutely let’s discuss the white male gaze and the politics of it. Certainly. But let’s not censor the artist or put the fear of controversy into the process when the curator is choosing exhibition’s. Let alone resignation as a option. Now, if the curator is posting racist shit on Facebook or elsewhere, then we…

Also I find Piss Christ quite compelling. Do you know where it is housed?

Yeah, in Ohio and Kentucky the hysteria went so far as people who viewed the exhibition were subsequently brought in by neighbors/family members etc for having polaroids of their children in bathtubs. It went that far.....

Theft is a crime, is it not? Art is not a crime. Yet. The issue I addressed is the urge to force the curator to resign and censor part of the exhibition. You can see the danger when art becomes censored. Criticize and critique. And yes the Mapplethorpe exhibition brought enormous heat upon the NEA with issues like a…

Ummm, you are making the exact same argument the hard right made about Mapplethorpe. They said the same things and much much much worse.

Critique and criticize all day long. As long as it stops before advocating removal or firings. It’s important we view the work of Nazi filmmaker/ artist Leni Riefenstahl not because we like it or agree, but specifically because we do not and can gain perspective of how others viewed it.

And you DO NOT GET TO DECIDE for anyone other than yourself how to feel.

Try this then, go to the exhibition. View the material separately and as a whole. Discuss the merits as you should. Let it seep in over time and revisit. See if your perspective has altered in any way. But do not support the demands censorship or removal of the curator. Do this with any controversial piece.

Pay attention. BECAUSE Mapplethorpe was gay AND died of aids his work was deemed offensive and worthy of censorship to the point of prosecution. It happened. The patrons who chose to enter the exhibition ran a gauntlet to get in and were as well accused of pedophilia. Because back then gay equalled pedophilia and now…

Absolutely this. The curator should not be threatened in any way with demands of resignation etc. Go to the coffee house and discuss pro and con of the exhibition as you should. But not removal or firings.

Oh. It wasn’t that he was a homosexual? Who also took nudes of children. It was not that. Got it. Okay. It had nothing to do with overt and physical homophobia? Nothing. OK. Got it. And it took enormous guts for Dennis Barrie to stand up to the threats and continue with the exhibition. Like another poster said, this…

Also, if I recall it led further down the hole into a forensic study of NEA funding, the Piss Christ piece etc.

You are saying much better than I.

Pictures of nude children. The accusations of pedophilia because the children did not have agency. Coupled with overt homophobia. Death threats to curator. A cry from the hard right to shut it down immediately. Not only fire the guy with the guts to show but prosecution.

Uproar at pictures. Death threats to the curator. Let alone having him fired. Accusations of patrons and artist getting jollies at nude children. Rampant and wanton homophobia. How is it different?

Same charge of using bodies inappropriately and punching down, down on nude children. Because the children were vulnerable and could not consent.

Dennis Barrie and the CAC stood up to the republican witch-hunt and were even brought up on obscenities charges by the Hamilton County Prosecutors.