Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 23:10:57 +0100 Subject: Art or Blasphemy? From: OW-jgh Art and the Church: who's afraid of upsetting whom? http://www.OutRage.org.uk/churchart.htm While Gloucester Cathedral is displaying a crypt full of erect penises, London's Institute of Contemporary Arts cannot find the words to explain why they are unable to exhibit Elisabeth Ohlson's internationally acclaimed 'Ecce Homo'. ========================================= The crypt in Gloucester Cathedral is too damp ever to have been used for the storage of bones. In places there are pools of water on the floor. But the "thousands of shapes emerging upwards" from it (using the coy terminology of the "Church Times" -- which nevertheless published an explicit photograph) are not stalagmites but a phalanx of erect penises in latex rubber, heads proudly raised heavenwards. This is Simon Ryder's work "The Words to Say It", currently on display in the crypt until the end of Sept. 1999. It is refreshing to see that the cathedral authorities are both willing and able to mount such an exhibition: and that the cathedral guides (gentlewomen advanced in years) are able to present it to visitors without embarrassment. ========================================= London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, however, cannot find the words to explain why they are unable to exhibit Elisabeth Ohlson's internationally acclaimed "Ecce Homo". This is doubly disappointing since their previous reputation for being gay-friendly and promoting the _avant garde_ was expected to be enhanced on both counts now that they are under the chairmanship of Ivan Massow. "Ecce Homo" was exhibited last summer in Sweden's most important cathedral, Uppsala, and was defended by Lutheran Archbishop Karl-Gustav Hammar, and indeed by all the Swedish bishops bar one. When the Pope subsequently cancelled an audience with the Archbishop, Hammar held a press conference, stating that "as a church leader, I'm not only an institution, I have a duty to push for development". It has since been displayed in various European countries; was scheduled for display earlier this year at the European Parliament; and has also been to Australia. Any exhibitor interested in mounting "Ecce Homo" should contact Ms. Ohlson's agent Ingemar Arnesson -- email: pingo.kult@telia.com ========================================= For the full text of this article, together with pictures and links to related sites, see the URL cited above. ========================================= ========================================= -- You may leave this list automatically by sending a message to list-processor@diversity.org.uk, containing a line that says unsubscribe outrage-world The 'lists' command will give information about other services