Grow …initially took down all nine paintings. But then she decided to display them covered in brown paper from the shoulders down. Each is now adorned with an essay from the National Coalition Against Censorship that states nude paintings don’t constitute obscene material, which it says lacks serious social, political or artistic value.
“It was kind of a play on [the police] saying we could display them if the obscene parts are covered up,” Grow said of the new display. She’s considering modifying the presentation to remove the brown paper and cover the “offending” parts of the painting, and maybe the eyes, with extracts from obscenity case law.

heraldsun.com: Complaint labels West Village art &…
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What a clever way to turn a complaint and a censorship issue around. Most galleries are used to dealing with random wackos and Grow handled this particular complainant by explaining that the works were art and not pornographic in nature. they tried to establish a conversation but the man stormed out and called the police who felt a need to come down to the gallery to appease the old man who voiced the complaint. It was asked that the works be taken down but the director refused to admit defeat and cleverly used censorship documentation to support the works and the display, enhancing the works for everyone.

It’s sad when people assume something about the nature of a piece without looking at it. The complainant clearly saw nudity and equated it with porn without giving the pieces or the curator a chance to speak to him. When something like this happens I tend to wonder if it is a guilt deep inside the person that makes them judgmental. Maybe the man in question likes porn. Maybe, just maybe, he actually liked the pieces and believed that was wrong and blamed the curator rather than exploring why they made him feel the way he did – he might have lost an opportunity to understand himself better. I think it’s sad when people look at the face value of things and avoid looking beneath the surface of anything. they set up walls around themselves allowing nothing in or out, when everything is on the surface how can change and growth be affected?

Tags: art news, censorship, controversy, nudes, nudity