Visitors Sunday accused the Detroit Institute of Art's director of censorship after they found a modern art exhibit padlocked and canceled for fear some might find it offensive, the Detroit News reports.
"You can't ignore it," the exhibit's artist, Jef Bourgeau, tells the paper. "The '90s is about shock. What is disappointing is that there have been no complaints and they closed it down." A museum spokeswoman, Annmarie Erickson, tells the paper the museum has a responsibility to the artist but "an even greater responsibility to the public."
Museum director Graham Bell began in the job seven weeks earlier, and his first official act was to call off the exhibit, which had been planned for two years.
The News says the DIA show sought to discuss the trend of shock art and rising exhibit closures, and included a vial of urine from Andres Serran's photograph of a submerged crucifix, a Bathtub Jesus with a doll wearing a condom and a video of British artist Tracey Emin in a menstruation ritual.
But the paper also says other museum visitors were glad the show was closed. "It just seems that artists do things to look cool," said visitor Tim Phillips to the paper. Even art supporters, the News says, say exhibitors have become exhibitionist. But others tell the paper the museum should champion the rights of artists, not impede them.
