An artist recently discovered that her painting was voted on by other members of the art collective where she and her wife rent a studio. Her portrait of a breast cancer survivor was deemed by the other artists not to be "family friendly." Rhon's portrait is featured here. As you will note, there is nothing lewd or pornographic about this portrait. The art show in Dallas, Texas, from which the portrait was removed featured other nudes. It is unfortunate that this portrait was removed.
I don't know all of the details, the focus of the show, nor the temperaments of all of the artists involved. I hope there were other reasons than the fear that parents might be afraid to show their children alternative views of the world, views of the world that might be frightening, but might also spark conversations about reality, about family members and friends, about prevention, and about compassion.
What do you think? Would this portrait offend you?
1. I think it is beautiful, realistic. I would guess it was perhaps too frightening? I dunno. I would also hope that wasn't the problem. But personally, I would have loved to have it included so that it could present a topic that is important to discuss with my child. If nudes would be included in a display, then yes, this could certainly be included as well.
Posted at 4:26PM on May 7th 2007 by Keri