Seems that everywhere—whether it be a culturally significant Washington museum or just a little community center in Boca Raton—people just don’t want their art to challenge them anymore. Especially not if that art is naked.
Artist Mary Eiland made some really pretty sculptures of nude female torsos, but a villainous city worker decided they were “inappropriate for public display” at the Patch Reef Park community center. Maybe the worker had taken a page from the Smithsonian, which recently decided to pull the daring Fire in My Belly visual art installation, much to the Warhol Foundation’s chagrin.
Now, emotionally charged images referencing HIV and religious icons are one thing — but these Florida busts are just busts! Carved in pretty stone! And apparently they’re so tasteful that they made it through an art showing where nudes were specifically not allowed … but still, an unidentified staff member at Patch Reef Park decided to squirrel them away behind a large painting to keep them from damaging young, impressionable eyes.
“If someone has a problem with these sculptures, then they'd better not watch any television or go on the computer or go to a mall,” Eiland said, “Or, actually, they'd better just stay in their house.” No kidding.