Hey, did someone step in something?

What’s that smell coming from the University of Virginia Art Museum? Well, at least we know it’s not dog poop.

Yesterday, Brendan Fitzgerald of C-ville broke the story of the UVa Art Museum excluding a piece of art from its newest exhibit featuring the work of Irwin Berman (read Brendan’s article here – way to get the scoop, Brendan). This morning, Brian McNeill of the Daily Progress followed up with more information (read Brian’s article here – and don’t miss Laura’s most excellent quote at the end).

Apparently, a curatorial decision was made to exclude a scatological piece of art by Irwin Berman from his show at UVa titled Sedentary Pleasures scheduled to open this Saturday. The particular piece at issue is a combination of a 3 minute video (animated) and an accompanying sculpture. The video tells a story of UVa’s former mascot, Seal the dog, rising from its grave and devouring UVa’s current Cavalier mascot who had just poked at a puppy with his saber. Seal then defecates the Cavalier in all its stinky orange and blue glory on a three-legged stool (writer's note: I have not personally seen the video and am paraphrasing from Brian's McNeill's article). The sculpture is – you guessed it – a stool with fake orange and blue poop on it. Collaborating with Berman on this project were Michael Wartella, Sam Retzer, and UVa art professor William Bennett. Berman, Wartella and Retzer are all UVa alumni.

As reported, Carol Wood, a University spokesperson, stated that the Museum rejected the piece on the grounds it "didn’t fit in with the parameters of the exhibit." I’m a little curious why this info comes from the Public Affairs Department and not from the Museum. Wouldn’t Interim Museum Director, Elizabeth Turner, be best suited to speak on the matter? Until someone does a better job of explaining what is going on, the Museum risks having the ugly word "censorship" splashed across its front door.

Censorship is a trigger not to be pulled lightly (or ever, for that matter). And, Berman’s artwork is simply not worthy of censorship in any form. UVa needs to tread carefully on this issue. Rightly or wrongly labeled, I believe the Museum needs to come out from behind the curtain and tell us what is going on to avoid being labeled "censors." Circling the wagons is not the best way to handle this situation.

The Museum straddles a thin line between being both a public and private institution. Furthermore, it is an institution of higher education. Being exclusionary is nowhere UVa wants to go, and it should know better. Due to the recent list of questionable (and cloaked) actions of the Museum, it should be very careful where it steps next. The mess currently found on the bottom of its shoe might only get worse.

All is not lost for Berman, however: His stool on a stool artwork will be on display at Les Yeux du Monde. The piece was originally conceived as a fundraiser for the University’s Art Department. The artists intended to donate proceeds generated from the video to the University.  Migration’s gallery dog, Piper, has another idea… She says, due to the despicable depiction of a dog being threatened by a saber wielding human, any proceeds from this piece of art should be donated to the SPCA and not UVa. Right on, Piper!

Comments

[QualityBargainz]

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