Art N' About

Author: LAUREN SMITH

Censorship is a delicate topic on campus these days, as students debate the "newspaper insert" and SGA elections, etc. On another campus not too far away, graduate students are also facing censorship from the very institution that is supposed to protect our freedoms - the government.

Last week, grad students at Brooklyn College in New York City were shocked when they learned the doors to their MFA theses exhibit, "Plan B," were being shut and locked by the Borough Parks Commissioner. On the morning of May 4, after a well-attended opening night, a locksmith arrived at the exhibit, informing student monitors he had been instructed to change the locks on the building. Then a building supervisor asked all students to leave immediately. Confused students contacted the Parks Commissioner who told them he had received complaints about 2 or 3 of the pieces in the exhibit. The "vulgar" works depicted nude male torsos watercolors with mild sexual language written on them, sculpted male genitalia illuminated in a box, and one work included a pet rat.

Pardon me, who the hell does this Parks Commissioner think he is? Perhaps he misunderstands the idea of freedom and the First Amendment. Or perhaps he's never seen any work from the early Renaissance, in which nude bodies and religious themes were combined, oh my! Will this guy shut down the Caravaggio show that recently opened at the Met, maybe for some of the paintings' "sexual references?" This isn't the first time NYC has pulled a stunt like this. Remember the Virgin Mary incident at the Brooklyn Art Museum six years ago? Giuliani attempted to shut down the "Sensation" exhibit because he found it irreligious.

Personally, I have no desire to see a religious icon smeared with crap. However, if an artist believes this expresses a deeper part of himself or makes a political or cultural statement, I say, go for it. Sometimes that's what art is, and should be, about - its shock value.

The building in which the Brooklyn art exhibit was held is city-owned. City officials said an agreement with the college stipulated that art exhibits be "appropriate for families." Okay, fair enough. The college students, however, said they do not have an agreement and that such an agreement would be unconstitutional. Indeed, it would, as the Parks Commission is a governmental institution and cannot impose restrictions on freedom of expression.

At the moment, the artists do not even have access to their work, as it's locked up by the Commissioner in a building to which only he has access. Students protested over the weekend and demanded the return of their work. The College has said the students may move the exhibit to a school-owned building, but the artists have refused that gesture.

The Brooklyn College Art Department's home page describes a piece of the department's history: "Founded by artists escaping German fascism on the eve of World War II, the art department started as the world's first comprehensive Bauhaus art program in a liberal arts setting." What a way to honor this history! Brooklyn, which has a rich cultural history and is still home to many artists, is in danger of losing that heritage because of the illegal censorship taking place there. New York, which was once a mecca for artists of all types, is already pushing artists out of the city with the growing cost of living. Let's hope this widening censorship doesn't force even more talent to leave.