The advertisement is for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' exhibition of works by the Italian master Titian. The museum chose to feature the famous "Venus Rising from the Sea" painting on the billboard because "it's very typical of paintings in the show," said MIA spokeswoman Anne-Marie Wagener.
The graffiti was discovered on a billboard in Long Lake, a western suburb, last week. None of the other Minneapolis area billboards advertising the show have been damaged. The one that was vandalized has been restored to its previous condition, despite objections from museum officials. "We said 'We think it's funny, just leave it, don't bother replacing it,'" Wagener said on Thursday.
But she said Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that owns the billboard, has a policy that ads with graffiti must be taken down so as not to encourage vandalism. The museum has fielded about 10 calls from angry passers-by who said they weren't comfortable seeing nudity outside of the museum, said MIA marketing director Kristin Prestegaard. Some people said it forced them to talk to their children about nudity in art, a conversation they weren't ready to have.
7 comments:
Some people said it forced them to talk to their children about nudity in art, a conversation they weren't ready to have.
Freakin' Puritan prudes. How difficult would that conversation be?
"Mommy, why is that lady naked?"
"Because the human body is a beautiful thing, and some artists like to paint people without any clothes on to demonstrate that."
How hard is that? Really?
Seeing nekkid people will cause children to want to have "you know what!" And the more we refuse to have instructional and informative conversations about "you know what", the less they'll want to do... that thing. Ignorance is strength, citizen!
That aside, the grafitti artist just gave that museum a wonderful marketing idea. I hope they hire him/her for the next go 'round of ads.
If the Good Lord had wanted us to run around with no clothes on, He would have made us that way!
Weren't ready for a conversation on art, the philistines!
If you weren't ready to talk to your child about the things he sees then lock the child in a cage or blind them with ice picks, a bit to much, sorry for the rage...
You would think, reading these comments, that it was perfectly normal to go around naked and letting it all hang out. Obviously the fact that most people in civilized countries wear clothes, even on hot days means that most people would prefer not to have to go around naked or look at other people swanning around naked.
Were you born fully clothed, Anonymous?
No L but as I grew up in a country that's progressed from tree-dwelling I now wear clothes like the vast majority of the other citizens - are we all wrong?
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