NORFOLK
Behind the glass walls of Mayer Fine Art, a gallery inside Waterside Festival Marketplace, air currents rustled the disposable plates covering breasts on a drawing.
The Styrofoam plates were there because late last week, after a visitor complained about an image featuring exposed breasts, gallery owner Sheila Giolitti was asked by Waterside management to put the artwork in a less conspicuous spot. Since she could find none, she improvised.
Giolitti's plan was to invite the public to stop by and decorate the Styrofoam-plate "pasties," she said, and to supply the glitter and pens.
"I think it's a ridiculous concern and should be treated as such," she said on Wednesday, stressing that she was irritated with the complainer, not the management. "This nude is so tame."
The art was inside the gallery, but much of the work on display can be clearly seen by passers-by on the second floor of Waterside.
"My opinion is, it's a big to-do about nothing," said Lane Brown, general manager of Waterside.
Brown was on vacation last week when the issue arose. He said he won't ask Giolitti to remove the art. While he wishes she had a more discreet spot for the work, he is accepting her solution.
"If people have a problem with it," he said, "I don't know. It's artwork. You go to the Chrysler Museum, go anywhere, and you'll see similar things. I can appreciate their position, but you can't satisfy everybody."
On Wednesday, every once in a while, a brisk current nudged one of the plates off its mark. From about 11 a.m. to noon, however, none of the passers-by even glanced at the offending artwork.
When the drawing was brought to their attention, visitors expressed widely varying opinions.
"I just feel like a woman's private parts are hers," said Jane Bruno, 42, of Suffolk, who added that she would rather not see exposed breasts in public.
"Because it is art, it doesn't offend me that way," said Jaz Brown, 26, a Virginia Beach construction worker on a break. "Art is trying to capture the person. I think it's beautiful."
"What about little kids, though?" said his co-worker, Daniel Pitino, 35, of Virginia Beach. "Not sure. Not sure."
A mother with a 3-1/2-year-old son said it didn't offend her to see nudity in art. "But my little boy would be asking questions," said Kimberly Heath-Shoup, 32, of Chesapeake.
"Adam and Eve were naked before they got the apple from the tree. Nobody thought about these things until that happened," Heath-Shoup said.
The drawing is part of a show, which runs until Aug. 20, featuring work by 16 undergraduate art students from various colleges. Much of the work is abstract.
The piece in question is Erika Risko's "Martyrdom," a realistic rendering of the figure on four sheets of paper. She is a senior at the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia.
Speaking from Philadelphia, Risko said Giolitti told her on Wednesday about the controversy. "I just think it's all very funny, that a community that accepts a Hooters can't accept a piece of fine art that's in the tradition of Greco-Roman art dating back thousands of years."
Teresa Annas, (757) 446-2485, teresa.annas@pilotonline.com
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Personally
I find it's better to expose children little by little to the human anatomy and explain the purpose(s) of various parts. At least that way you increase their chances of respecting the human body, not just their own but that of others, and not learning the hard way as another poster correctly suggested. My father took the time to do so with me and my mother did so with my sisters. It's inevitable, unless you want your child to be like Carrie (Stephen King) and be ignorant of the body's natural mechanisms.
I'm no religious fanatic or anything, but the human body is a marvelous creation, however it was made and by whomever it was engineered. I believe that if you're not comfortable seeing a naked body, then you're not comfortable with your sexuality (and I'm not referring to orientation either).
i mean, really.....aren't
i mean, really.....aren't there more things to worry about?? there is nothing wrong with tittays if they're being represented in an artistic fashion...
Perspective . . .
As a previously homeschooling mom, we often met at Waterside before group homeschooling tours of Downtown Norfolk.
I would not have appreciated walking past a visible display of breasts with my son at various ages--we would go to the Chrysler and see the same things, but we would be prepared to address it in a sensitive, age-appropriate way at the Chrysler. Having an unexpected glimpse of something which is normally private would be the dilemma. I probably wouldn't have complained, but I would have had to improvise a quick educational module on the human body and what is and is not art. By the way, that would have *included* the fact that these breasts were *not* in the tradition of Graeco-Roman art, as the article suggested, because they were drawn, not carved. Let's get our art media straight. Renaissance art did include drawn/painted breasts, usually attached to the Virgin Mary. We taught about that at the appropriate time and place, too. Cheers, MGM
Thank you
jb59807, thank you for your comment and others' comments who believe that taking the time to explain the human body, and also how it relates to art to their children, turns "offensive" art into ART.
Heaven forbid they take their children to Europe. So much history, so much art, so much "porn"... :)
Art Work
I am disgusted by the people at the beach in those skimpy bathing suits they wear. We need to cover them all, so it doesn't offend me.......................I cannot believe this Gallery owner succumbed to this.................................
Missed the boat...
That parent missed the perfect opportunity to have a little talk with junior. Explain what a breast is for. Even a four year old can grasp the concept. Breasts are for feeding babies, and we don't expose them in a public place. Explain that the model was in a studio with just the artist, and how the nudity relates to the painting. I'm sure junior has seen mom's boobies. Daddy's penis, too. Every other person has one or the other. If children are comfortable with their bodies, and with knowing what all the "parts' look like, and what they're for, then maybe they won't have to find out for themselves in the backseat of a car.
maybe it's because I've actually been outside the state of VA...
but my children grew up going to art gallaries, being exposed to (HORRORS!) paintings and other artworks that showed breasts (as well as that unmentionable part of the male anatomy). Yes, I suppose that they may have asked questions, but I cannot say I remember them. Kids know what body parts they have, I guess I would say that my kids asked more questions about their bodies from thier own daily observations of the world than they ever did at an art gallery. I say we should burn all the old masters, chip away all the "parts" from the great statues, and cover them with plaster fig leaves.........oh, wait, the Catholic Church tried that in the Vatican city, didn't they? Pity, such a ruin of artwork.
A single visitor's complaint
I wonder if we go to that visitor's city and complain about something so trivial, would we get the same reaction and response?
It's an art gallery. Did you really expect to walk into or by an art gallery and not see a depiction of the human body? We are in the 21st century now. The human body is anything but taboo.
one more thing
When Waterside's one remaining customer complains, action must be taken I guess..
Waterside Art Work
Why are people complaining about the art work? On a weekend night, just go to Hooters or Bar Norfolk and you can see the real thing at Waterside!
Does the City of Norfolk now have "Political Correct" policing of Waterside?
At least ABC doesn't have any jurisdiction
It's a good thing they didn't have a wine tasting at the gallery! ABC would have been all over it issuing summonses and taking everyone to jail!
abercrombie....the sequel
Oh gawd...OK Waterside: Since you act on a SINGLE complaint, I insist that the pasties be removed. Oh wait, someone else complained....that makes 2 wanting to see ART
The Boobies are in City Hall
Oh, well. I guess we'll just all have to start subscribing to National Geo again to get our boobie fix.
The real obscenity
The real obscenity is that ONE person complained and the Mall management acted. Well I am complaining about the alcohol being sold there. It is immoral, sometime unlawful and disruptive. Since one visitor complained- me- I expect the mall management to forbid the selling of alcohol in the Mall. I expect to be treated the same as any other visitor. Now that it only takes one person to affect Mall policy, everyone should be sure to let the management know when something offends them.
so whose complaint do you honor?
So one wheeny-whiny complained about exposed breasts on art?
MY complaint is that the breasts were covered up!
So...whose complaint are you going to honor NOW?
Laughing stock
This is just one of the reasons why America has become such a laughing stock to the world. Did anyone ever think that if we were more open and honest about nudity and sex with our kids, that we might have fewer cases of teenage pregnancy. This is just a case of the few trying to impose their standards on the many. Didn't we fight a war over this issue a few years ago? I am sure the art store is loving all the free publicity they are getting. Hey, maybe they are trying to breathe new life into Waterside!
Oh, for crying out loud
Can we PLEASE stop sanitizing every bloody thing "for the chyyllldrun"? I'm really getting sick of having someone else's prudery shoved down my throat "for the chyylldrun". The human body has been a subject of art since art was invented. Get over it. What's next, a paper plate on the Virginia flag?
Of course, I have to wonder why some people think it's okay for a breast to be on full display if it has a baby attached to it, but everything else is ZOMG OBSCENE!
The Manager was on Vacation
If the general manager of Waterside agrees this is a "big to-do about nothing", why doesn't he overrule his staff (the ones who asked for the cover up while he was on vacation) and allow the gallery owner to remove the plates and display the art as intended?
Oh My God! What about the Children??
Won't somebody pleeease think about the children! LOL
They are breasts folks, just breasts! And when you child asks, that's what you say. I cannot believe the management of Waterside caved in to this ridiculous complaint. It's not as if a full on sex act was depicted though even that shouldn't be fodder for complaint in my book.
Ummm
Don't these geniuses think that styrofoam paper plates over the breasts may bring a little more atttention than the actual breasts themselves?
Free marketing
These non-stories are great for marketing. Gets a headline in the paper and the usual "I'm so much more sophisticated than that person" reaction from people. I think a lot of times they're manufactured just to get the free press.
Are you serious??
All the things going on in the world, and someone has a problem with exposed breasts in an artwork?? They're UDDERS, people! They provide milk for offspring. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THEM. If this person wants something to be truly offended and upset about, maybe they should watch the news and see what else is going on in this country and abroad. I wish an arty exposed breast was the worst thing we had to worry about!
Gosh, I just can't, for the
Gosh, I just can't, for the life of me, think how those plates would be best adorned!?! Just asking for it aren't they?
A tenner says the obvious, but tassles would be funnier.
Tear down those plates.
Cowards.
Never knew their was an Art
Never knew their was an Art Gallery at Waterside. Now I do. I think they got what they wanted.
Provincial Backwater
Norfolk remains a provincial backwater. Aside from the inability to understand and appreciate the arts, it is always forgotten that breasts exist for children. If Norfolk ever wants to move forward culturally, we should have better art education programs for our citizens of all ages and better support for the arts instead of the continued promotion on ignorance and censorship.
Smut
Is very often in the eyes and mind of the beholder. I once had a neighbor who obtained vanity license plates for his car when they first came out which read "POKES ONE". Apparently DMV received a complaint about his "sexually suggestive" license plates. As it turns out, he was from Dallas and was a rabid fan of the Dallas Cowboys or "Cowpokes" as he affectionately referred to them, thus explaining the plates. So whose mind was in the gutter on that one?
No surprise!
This is what you get for living in the "Bible Belt."
OHhh, Puh-leeze!
Good Grief! We're not talking about someone committing a lewd s*x act in public! We're talking about a piece of artwork, hanging on display. Cripes, folks--get over your prune-faced, tight-lipped Puritanical political-korrectness! If you want a REAL eye-opener, take a visit to White Tail Resort in Ivor, and take note of how adults and kids alike take virtually NO note of each other's nudity. Parts is parts, folks, and once the novelty wears off (takes about, ohhh--one minute!) you'd be surprised at how un-uptight and relaxed everyone is together. Gosh...what an uptight bunch of prudes we seem to be!
Ed... You Just Reinforced My Point Perfectly...
Our perceptions as 8yr old kids were far less worldly than those of our parents. Our parents may have felt some minor embarrasment at the moment the issue occurred, but they defused the issue by simply letting the moment pass. End of issue.
A nude painting or lifedrawing hanging on a wall in a gallery is just another piece of artwork & is no different than any other painting or drawing, except for the subject under depiction.
If an 'Adult' becomes mortified & indignant because "a Child might see it" - Their indignation is really a reflection of their own lack of emotional & intellectual maturity.
This type of situation has far less to do with "Public Morality" than it does with a single individual's lack of maturity.