From: kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Re: U. of Illinois may remove non"pleasant" art from vistor's center
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 15:52:05 GMT


[Reprinted with permission from the Daily Illini, Champaign, IL.
 The article appeared on August 6th, 1992, p.1]

All artworks to go if any do at Levis News story by Brian Krumm,
Daily Illini reporter, Pg.1

Three area artists said Wednesday they would take down all 30 of
the artworks featured in an exhibition at the University's Levis
Faculty Center if Levis officials ordered the removal of two of
the paintings today.  Center officials had received complaints
about two paintings in the exhibition and asked the artist, University
alumna Cathy Smith, to remove the paintings from the building
Tuesday morning, according to Jennifer Wyatt, bookkeeper for Levis
facilities manager Sandy Roberts.  Wyatt informed Smith about
complaints concerning her paintings "2 Close" and "Sight Specific,"
which are part of the exhibition For External Use Only, which has
been at Levis since July 11 and is scheduled to remain on display
until Aug. 31.  Smith said Tuesday that "Sight Specific" contains
"a pretty stereotypical picture of a woman's ass," with the words
"Am I privilege to your judgement" painted across the work.  "2
Close" is a two-section painting with a woman's face on one side
and a vaginal symbol on the other, and the words "Does my anger
alienate you" are displayed across the painting, Smith said.  Wyatt
said that Roberts and Kathleen Pecknold, associate vice chancellor
for administrative affairs, are part of a committee that decided
the artworks were "really not appropriate" for Levis because it is
"not an art gallery." Wyatt said Roberts told her Friday to inform
Smith that officials had received complaints about the paintings
and that they would have to be taken down.  Both Pecknold and
Roberts are on vacation and could not be reached for comment
Wednesday, but Smith and the exhibition's other artists, graduate
students Tracey Moore and Teresa Frantz, met with Donald Wendel,
vice chancellor for administrative affairs, Wednesday afternoon to
discuss the situation.  After the meeting, Frantz said, "Either
the two works stay up, oreverything comes down." Wendel said, "The
artists reported to me that they had been informed that the committee
had advised them that all or some of the artwork had to come down."
He added that the artists all received "second- or third-hand
information" when they were told the paintings would have to be
removed from Levis.  Wendel said he was going to contact a member
of the committee and tell the artists today if they must remove
the two artworks.  Wyatt said all artwork presented in Levis must
be approved first during a slide-show presentation, but "none of
the questionable pieces were brought in. Two pieces from each artist
were brought in." However, Smith said that "Sight Specific" was
one of the sample pieces and that she explained at length what it
was supposed to portray.  Smith said Tuesday that the two paintings
had been taken off the wall several times, but Wyatt said she was
not sure the paintings had ever been taken down.  "I have never
seen pieces moved," Wyatt said. "I heard that pieces had been moved.
People find them offensive. I can't control them being able to take
them down while their groups are in here." Wyatt said the artworks
are "not the image we are trying to project. We don't want to turn
anybody off. If we were an art gallery, people would expect to see
controversial paintings. Since it's a visitors' center, people
expect to see something very pleasant and non-threatening." Wyatt
said the center had received complaints from several parents who
were members of University tour groups.  "They're very explicit
drawings. I wouldn't say pornographic," Wyatt said. "It's just very
plain what they're depicting. Female genitals is not something
people want to view."

 

--
Carl Kadie -- kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Newsgroups: alt.censorship