From the mouths of Babes – Bill Henson from the Children’s perspective

Another of the Nude Teen Pictures under debate by Bill Henson .A local paper, from Bill Henson’s old stomping ground Northcote, took a different tack in this case by interviewing local children and seeking their opinions on the controversy…. I remember those days all too clearly and I think that it’s important that no matter whether you agree with the works or not, whether you accept the models choices to pose, take a moment to appreciate the bravery it took and the strength they must need to stand tall in the face of this controversy…. And while the students had concerns about the impact of the work and the ability of young people to give consent, they also defended the right to freedom of expression in art. “I think you should look at art for being art and stop focusing on the negatives,” Mutinta said.

Just because it’s a Nude doesn’t mean it’s Porn

Picture by the Daily Telegraph And just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not art. the key debate in the Bill Henson controversy is whether these images are pornographic…. there are some strange, strange people out there, but that I don’t think that these pieces are sexual in any way…. There are those out there who are insisting that because it’s a nude, it’s sexual and because it’s sexual, it’s pornographic and therefore illegal.

Community Support for Bill Henson’s Nudes

The seizure of the photographs, and the possible prosecution of Mr Henson, the Rosyln Oxley9 Gallery or the parents of Henson’s subjects, takes up valuable police and court time that would be much better spent pursuing those who actually do abuse children. [From Open letter in support of Bill Henson – National – theage.com.au ] Around the country, while some galleries are cravenly pulling their Henson pieces out of their collections and off the walls other galleries are standing firm and standing up for freedom of artistic expression…. Mr Savill, like many of his art industry colleagues, was appalled when police last week confiscated photographs by Henson – one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists – and decided to hang the picture beside an Arthur Boyd nude, “to remind people that nudes have inspired artists for centuries”.

Sexualization of Minors in Art

[From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I have been thinking further about the issue of sexualization of teens in art. I think if the case against Bill Henson were to go through we will start to see extreme limitations in the freedom of expression and artistic freedom…. [From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I agree with this, by trying to anticipate what might turn a pedophile on we may be stepping into their shoes and thereby, not only destroying our own view of art, but possibly ruining the experience for others…. we can stop trying to predict them, stop trying to anticipate what they might find titillating and risk damaging freedom of art and expression, the reputations of renowned artists and focus instead on making sure our children are safe and educated.

Bill Henson’s Artworks are Innocent

One of the Controversial works by Bill Henson Photograph from the Age Officers raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, in Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, just before the exhibition was due to open on Thursday night…. The raid, and the prospect of an artist facing criminal charges, has reignited the debate about what constitutes art. [From Law Society backs nude child pics artist – Breaking News – National – Breaking News ] I have been so angry about this whole mess that I haven’t been able to write coherently till now…. the police raid and seizures, the statement by Prime minister Kevin Rudd that these works are ‘revolting’, the galleries that are also pulling Bill Henson’s works from their collections or the constant newspaper articles referring to these artworks, by one of Australia’s premier artists, as ‘”art”‘.

“children should not be exposed to nudity”

But from a moral point of view, no parent would want their children to be taught about nudity at school,” Colditz said…. what a delightfully general comment – “no parent would want their children to be taught about nudity at school” first off, haven’t the children already been taught about nudity?… one presumes that if these kids haven’t heard of nudity or seen it in some form by the time they get to school, well there is certainly something very wrong.

Nudity is a part of Art – MF Husain Exonerated

Shri Parvati by MF Husain ” The allegations made against the painter are baseless and it would not be proper to hold that he had a deliberate intention to manifestly insult Bharat Mata,” Justice Kaul said after reasoning that nudity is part of contemporary art. Husain’s nude paintings of Bharat Mata, as well as those of other Hindu gods and goddesses had created a furore resulting in several threats from right wing groups like VHP and Bajrang Dal, following which he is living in self-imposed exile in Dubai. “A painter at 90 deserves to be at his home – painting on his canvas,” the judge said quashing proceedings in three cases against Husain, and added that “it is most unfortunate that India’s new ‘puritanism’ is being carried out in the name of cultural purity and ignorant people vandalize art.” [From Delhi HC quashes obscenity case against MF Husain-India-The Times of India ] In a brilliant show of justice, the obscenity charges against Maqbool Fida Husain have been formally dropped…. I have covered the travails of MF Husain on this blog numerous times, not only as an example of extreme reactions to nude art but of how we are becoming more reserved and more tightly puritan .

Museum fears children seeing nudes, not decapitations

or is it just that our society is now so warped that something natural that we all have is more shameful and disgusting than the violence surrounding us. Gonzalez’s works are inspired by baroque style and he cites art history as a source of bloody and violent works…. It seems a real shame that these pieces are now behind closed doors, I had a chance to see some of his works on this youtube video and they look stunning. very much in the style of the masters (and some of my favorite artists) and I venture that this exhibition might be educational to kids as it explores the underworld and the way drug deals can go wrong.

Dear myspace..

I would like to know: What counts as nudity to myspace – how much of a body needs to be unclothed for it to contravene the T&C?… I would like to start a new page and try to regain the ground I have lost but I would like to know the details of the nudity clause so that I don’t contravene it, and so that other artists may use myspace without fear of losing their hard work as well. please be as detailed as possible in your response, I would prefer to have too much information rather than not enough – not enough information is what led to this problem in the first place.

More on the Student Art competition nude scandal

In a followup to the recent story about robbing two young artists of a competition win and prize money for daring to enter nudes, several Virginian columnists have had their say about their feelings on the matter…. And don’t pre-screen 600-plus entries down to the 62 that De Groft was given to choose from, leave in “inappropriate” art, then call for a do-over when your juror makes his choice…. [From Censoring winner of student art show is in poor taste — Arts and Culture, Virginia, College of William and Mary — dailypress.com ] And you know you may have made a bad decision when an employee columnist from the newspaper that started it all has this to say: We in the news business go to great lengths to shield minors.