The entrance to the Fotografiska museum. I loved the stormy skies on Sunday. Photo by Robert Corkery.
In 1990, I was living in Cincinnati when a photo exhibit by Robert Mapplethorpe titled The Perfect Moment caused a huge uproar. The traveling exhibition was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and it started a debate about public funding of the arts and defining what is obscene. At the heart of the battle were nude photos of children, as well as some sexually provocative shots of nude men.
Just a few hours after the opening of the show, curator Dennis Barrie and the Contemporary Arts Center were indicted for pandering obscenity. I was then in charge of a group of fine art magazines and went with my staff to rally in support of the arts and the show at Fountain Square, in the center of the city. Later, Barrie and the arts center were acquitted and the show went on.
Me and my bike, just leaving the Mapplethorpe show.
I was reminded of all this on Sunday when Robert and I went to the Fotografiska Museum here to see the
Mapplethorpe show. I recognized a lot of the works and was again struck by how beautiful the images were. And it was amusing to see how people reacted to some of the photos that were deemed obscene over 20 years ago – mostly, people laughed at the well-endowed anatomy and moved on.
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Sandra,
Too well I remember the Maplethorpe exhibit in Cincinnati and all the uproar it caused in suburbia. What I appreciate about Stockholm is that it’s there for all to see and have their own opinions. Isn’t that what art is about?
I remember the Mapplethorpe controversy as well: the so-called scandalous photos were displayed in a separate room so viewers could make the choice to see them or not. Debates about art and the 1st Amendment are fascinating to me. I recall the “Sensation” show protests in 1999 in NYC — Giuliani classically said it contained “sick stuff.” In the end, the Brooklyn Museum was mandated to post a yellow warning stamp that said some of the art might induce vomiting, anxiety, shock, confusion, panic, and blah-blah-blah.
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