Photographer Bill Henson’s Work Seized

This is an ongoing story that I will barely scratch the surface of but Bill Henson an artist/photographer living in Australia has over the last few days/week been having his work of 25+ years seized, closed down and put into legal doubt.

His work is largely inky black desaturated figurative photos of individuals in minimal or distant urban environments wearing either loose clothing or nude. The catch is that there are also nude teen age models included. [Read more]

Mind the gap, not the breasts… London Underground museaum ad causes stir

A 16th century nude painting of the Roman goddess Venus has been banned from being part of the ad campaign for London’s Royal Academy of Arts upcoming exhibition on 16th century German painter and printmaker Lucas Cranach the Elder. Officials are banning it for fear it’s “exhibitionist” qualities could cause offense.

The promotional poster which was set to be displayed in the London Underground train system had transportation officials concerned since:

“Millions of people travel on the London Underground each day, and they have no choice but to view whatever adverts are posted there,”

“We have to take into account the full range of travellers [sic British] and endeavour [sic more British] not to cause offence [sic my god can't the British spell in English..... yes I know it's an off colour joke] in the adverts we display.”

According to the London Underground, the poster breached its guidelines against ads that depict [Read more]

Is it art? Teacher strips in class

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — A Chinese culture ministry official has denounced a university professor who stripped naked in front of students and teachers during an art class, a Chinese newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mo Xiaoxin, a 56-year-old assistant professor at a university in Changzhou, in eastern Jiangsu province, shocked students by stripping during a lecture on “body art” to emphasize the “power” of the body and to “challenge taboos,” the Beijing News said.

“There are no taboos in the field of research, but to do this directly in the course of teaching is obviously not appropriate,” the paper quoted Tian Junting, a culture ministry official, as saying.

The lecture was part of a course within a newly established “human body art and culture” research institute — China’s first — at Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology, the paper said.

Mo arranged for four other models, including a man and woman in their 70s or 80s, and a younger couple, to strip naked in front of the class while he lectured, the paper said.

During the nearly hour-long class, Mo also invited students to take their clothes off.

[Read more]