Apropos to the Ed Kienholz retrospective now on display through June 2 at
the Whitney, a '60s Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibit of his work
was the subject of much controversy.  The focus of the broohaha was "Back
Seat Dodge," which I assume must be in the current Whitney show.

I was a high school art student at the time and can remember well my
bewilderment at the farcical behavior of L.A.'s elected officials (and
other adults) over the presentation of this piece.  "Back Seat Dodge" is a
typically Kienholzian facsimile of a funky car with a wire-mesh "couple"
making out in the back seat.  The L.A. city council went ape over this and
saw to their duty of protecting young eyes from such corruption.  I seem to
recall there was a sort of stand-off between them and the museum, and that
the final resolution was the posting of a guard who would open the back
door of the Dodge only for the pleasure of adult eyes.  The whole thing was
a headline story for weeks.

The moral of this and other "controversial exhibit" stories is what I call
the Inverse Reaction Law of Censorship.  For every censorial action there
is an equal and opposite reaction which achieves exactly what the censors
did not want: publicity and notoriety.

The blasphemy of "The Last Temptation of Christ," or Andres Serrano's "Piss
Christ" or the lyrics of 2 Live Crew, or the homoeroticism of Robert
Mapplethorpe would all have passed quietly in the night had it not been for
the Inverse Reaction law.

Epilogue:  "Back Seat Dodge" now resides in the permament collection of
LACMA and occasionally appears there on display.  Kids and parents and
teenagers and old couples wander through the museum and enjoy the art.  No
one on the L.A. City Council has the slightest interest in their reactions.


Watta world.


Stephen Nowlin,
Vice President
Director, Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, California 91103  USA (818)396-2397vox (818)405-9104fax
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