Pardon the cross-posting of this article (see below), but I feel this is
relevant to ongoing discussions about censorship in museum practice.
[The postscript to the article below is that the museum's Board of Directors
decided to pull the artwork from the juried exhibition.
If anyone is interested in contacting the artist directly, please contact me
directly.]
Jay Heuman
Curator of Education
Salt Lake Art Center
20 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
T 801-328-4201 x 21
F 801-322-4323
W www.slartcenter.org
BIBLES AND BULLETS
Cody Clark / The Daily Herald
Saturday, October 29, 2005 (page B1)
The annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah exhibit at the Springville
Museum of Art has a tendency to inspire strong feelings. "This show is
always a little controversial," said museum director Vern Swanson. Religious
and spiritual convictions, he said, are not something that many people
regard lightly. To say the least.
One piece that may or may not be displayed during this year's exhibit has
already caused controversy. It's a sculpture that consists of an oil drum, a
Koran and a Bible. That in itself might be enough to make some people hot
beneath the collar, but the artist has gone one step further -- the Koran
contains a bomb, while the Bible is filled with bullets.
The piece, by Logan resident Adam Bradshaw, is called "Improper Use May
Result in Injury or Death."
Swanson said that "Improper Use" is "tough," and that the museum tries to
"not allow artists to be disrespectful of others' faiths." The fact that the
piece doesn't indict one religion more than the other is in large part what
convinced jurors to accept it for the show.
"If it was just the Koran or just the Bible," said Swanson, "I don't think
we would have" chosen to display it.
And visitors to the exhibit may not have the opportunity to judge the
piece's merits for themselves. Because it is a non-profit,
community-sponsored organization, the museum has an executive board that has
final approval regarding potentially offensive exhibits. But even if the
board agrees with the jurors, the work in question might not be in the show
for long.
"If the board accepts it and the public doesn't," said Swanson, "we would
probably take it down."
Swanson said that artists often assert controversial opinions in work
submitted for the Spiritual and Religious Art show. "It's almost like an
editorial show," he said.
Frank McEntire, a Salt Lake City sculptor who has two pieces in the show,
said that everything he does expresses his opinions about the world. Almost
all of his art, he said, explores "contemporary life issues involving
politics, the environment, intersections where commerce meets values
systems."
Provo resident J. Kirk Richards, a painter, said that he generally doesn't
have a specific message in mind when he paints. On the other hand, Richards
said, "I think it's appropriate for an artist to use art any way that he or
she wants. That's their prerogative."
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