Richard Prince, Spiritual America IV, 2005 -Via Eloge de l’Art par Alain Truong
The controversial nude photo of Brooke Shields has now been replaced by a later version and will go on show from today, according to Tate Modern.
The ‘photograph of a photograph’, by artist Richard Prince, was removed from the show -following police advice – before it opened on 1 October.
In a statement, Tate Modern said this afternoon: ‘In consultation with the artist, Richard Prince, Tate has replaced Spiritual America 1983 with a later version of the work made by him in collaboration with Brooke Shields, Spiritual America IV 2005. The room reopens to the public on Tuesday 13 October.’
This is a fairly elegant way around the problem at hand – it fits with the theme of the exhibition and was made in full cooperation with Brooke Shields. it’s also an original work by Prince, rather than a photograph of a photograph. It does not have the same depth as the previous work, however one cannot deny that legally it is a much safer work for many reasons.
Gary Gross, the taker of the original photograph was disappointed that it was removed from the Tate – I guess because out of all of the names in this mess his was the only one that really needed and received publicity.
Angie says that knowing that the other Brookie pic has been replaced will certainly help her sleep better tonight! I think we all can…