page_title: René Moncada
section_title: Mott's apple juice controversy
hierarchical_section_title: René Moncada / Mott's apple juice controversy
caption_attribution_description: English: Left: painting by Rene Moncada realistically replicating Mott's apple juice can label, 1982. Right: photo of Mott's apple juice can label redesigned, 1983, eliminating sexually suggestive content.
context_page_description: René Moncada is a South American-born artist living in the United States of America. He is best known for a series of murals undertaken in New York City's SoHo neighborhood between the late-1970s to early-1990s which spelled out the proclamation I AM THE BEST ARTIST René. He is also separately known for controversial artwork such as Sex and Violence, which depicts a cross with a vagina at its center, and as an outspoken opponent of censorship in the arts.
context_section_description: During the 1970s, Moncada would become well known in New York art and sex scenes for his artistic representations of female genitalia, making the artist a some-time target of anti-pornographic groups over the years.
  An ability to pick out subliminally depicted labia from advertisements and elsewhere, whether actual or imagined, was exploited in a recurring magazine article in which René, dubbing himself "Nature's Ambassador", would point out occurrences of "the sacred image" peeking out from, as per one entry, sculptural elements found decorating New York's Central Park.
  In the early 1980s, René noticed what seemed to him a subliminal image embedded within the label design of Mott's apple juice cans.
  The label, showing a detailed rendering of a halved apple, contained what René insisted was an obvious representation of a vagina.
  René created a painted replica of the can, similar to Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup artwork.
  With the full painting standing at 5-feet high, the small detail—otherwise unaltered by the artist—stood out that much more.Screw magazine featured a version of it on the cover of issue #725 and also reported related events which ensued.
  René held an exhibition at his own gallery in 1983 showcasing his Mott's painting, among other related works.
  The artist invited Mott's representatives, fully aware of possible retribution, and welcoming it.
  René's "Big Apple Show" also displayed the letters sent to Mott's, and their replies.
  Everyone who attended the opening reception received a poster of René's painted rendition.
  A 1981 Village Voice article titled "Apple of Temptation" covered René's Mott's artwork, and Playboy magazine included René in their annual "Year in Sex" review.Mott's redesigned the label soon thereafter, removing any hint of that to which René had drawn attention (pictured), and avoiding any presupposed corporate embarrassment.
  If I could sign my checks with a drawing of a vagina, I would, but the bank won't allow it.
  — René Moncada 
  René subsequently created many versions of apples with female genitalia as their core, including drawings, paintings, carvings and other 3-dimensional objects.
  One version of the apple titled Original Sin, hand-carved into 2-inch-thick wood, was included in the book Forbidden Art, an anthology of similarly themed artworks.
  René continued to feature vaginas prominently in his artwork—aware it may negatively affect sales and, therefore, gallery interest—even as other artists have achieved broader acceptability by painting euphemistic representations.
  As for his use of vaginas in his artwork, René considers it "the purest image".
  "The shape is a basic structure, a universal image. It's in nature, you can find it everywhere," he explained to The Village Voice.
  To comments inferring its usage might be considered "monotonous" or "mono thematic", René points out that while others have come and gone, gaining attention by exploiting the image, his interest remains intact, claiming he is "not interested in being shocking and outrageous".
  In response to criticism contending René shouldn't expose images of a vagina to children, he explains that in this context children wouldn't even know what it is, and, if they did know, it's because someone else has already shown them what it is. "If the kid recognizes it as something bad—obscene, disgusting—it's because somebody put this idea into his head already."
caption: René's 1982 painting of Mott's apple juice can (left) with a photo of the subsequently redesigned label, sexually suggestive content eliminated (right, 1983).
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