Actions over free expression cast Norfolk in provincial light

Far be it from me to alarm anyone, but we in Southeastern Virginia are beginning to look like a bunch of cretins.

Let's recap.

In April, there was that embarrassing dust-up over The Virginian-Pilot's Student Gallery. You remember. First place was supposed to go to a student who entered a nude self-portrait. Then newspaper honchos intervened and decreed that a naked teenager wouldn't be honored in the winner's circle.

A new judge was summoned, and he selected a nude sculpture.

More nekkid art, No way. Eventually, Pilot staffers were forced to judge their own contest, and the student award went to a modest piece. Not our proudest moment here at the defender of free expression.

Two months later, it was the city of Norfolk's turn to look provincial when a foul-mouthed rapper who performed at the Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Festival cussed on stage - gosh, who could have predicted that? Indignant festival organizers demanded that the police charge the guy with a crime.

To no one's surprise, the profanity case against Raymond "Boots" Riley was dismissed. Seems the First Amendment is still in effect. Even in Norfolk.

Now the city's back in the news - from Philadelphia to Germany, according to a perusal of the Internet - because an art gallery owner at the Waterside Festival Marketplace was asked to move a nude art work from a window to a less conspicuous spot.

Seems a local prude spied a bosom in the window of the Mayer Fine Art gallery and swooned. A complaint was lodged with Waterside management. Action was taken.

Gallery owner Sheila Giolitti - who said there was no less prominent place to display such a large piece - succumbed to this spirit of Puritanism and slapped paper-plate pasties on the offending naughty bits.

For those who haven't peeked behind the plates, the pastel breasts are hardly erotic. One is so small it could belong to a man. The other is considerably bigger.

When I caught up with her Friday, artist Erika Risko explained that there's a reason for this lopsidedness.

The work, titled "Martyrdom," was her art school thesis. It's a composite piece, she said, that embodies the likenesses of four strong women who overcame tremendous hardships in their lives.

Risko said one of the models is a close friend who suffers from brittle bone disease. Another is a woman who endured an abusive situation. There's also Risko's sister, who has struggled with autism, and an aunt who lost a child.

I wonder if the Waterside whiner is ashamed of herself now.

The young artist has been kept abreast of the controversy and finds it hilarious.

"It's the silliest thing I ever heard," she said. "Life drawing is such a part of art."

Risko, a senior at the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, seemed awfully nice. I had to ask.

Have you ever been to Norfolk?

"Nope, never," she replied.

Would you like to visit?

"No," she said, flatly.

I felt like a cretin for even asking.

Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net