Nudes removed from campus bookstore

Laura Godfrey, Excalibur (YoYork University)

TORONTO (CUP) — Artists and members of the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) were shocked after they were asked to take down the Playing Doctor exhibit from the York University Bookstore one week after its installation.

The AGYU’s exhibit, intended to remain in the bookstore’s front window from Sept. 26 to Dec. 9, was taken down in what the artists and the gallery are calling an act of censorship.

The collaborative piece between artists Shannon Gerard and Stef Lenk is an attempt to facilitate awareness about peoples’ bodies and the importance of being checked for testicular and breast cancer.

The display was a larger-than-life representation of the popular board game Operation. It included life-size cutouts of a nude man with a crocheted penis and a nude woman with crocheted breasts.

Stones were placed inside the crocheted pieces to replicate the lumps found in the body of a cancer patient. The display was accompanied by a printed statement of the artists’ intentions.

According to Steven Glassman, manager of the York University Bookstore, complaints were received between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 while the exhibit was being installed.

“From what we [at the AGYU] understand, there’s one professor who’s particularly upset about it,” said Lenk.

Glassman denied that the complaint was from a professor.

“I got this complaint, or comment, that this fellow, who I think is learned, but not a professor by any means, innocently asked me, but certainly not in a demanding way, when it was going to be removed, because he wants to avoid having his child walk past there for the duration of that exhibit,” said Glassman.

Gerard maintained that the exhibit was not supposed to be “an inflammatory project.”

“It’s supposed to start a dialogue about fear,” she said.

“I guess censorship does that better than anything, so on one hand, I’m not disappointed about this censorship at all. I think it’s a great way to bring attention to the idea of discussing fears.”

Glassman insisted that the removal of the exhibit was not an act of censorship, but a misunderstanding about where it was to be displayed and for how long.

“The key thing is that there’s a misunderstanding, because the front window display was something that was not anticipated or planned in advance,” he said. “When [the artists and curators] came in to do the final planning of the exhibit, I expressed surprise and I refused the front window. I was convinced [by them] to put it in for a week — seven days. It was very clear to me,” said Glassman.

Emelie Chhangur and Michael Maranda, assistant curators at the AGYU, both denied that such an agreement was made.

“AGYU would not speak publicly about its removal if this were the case,” said Chhangur.

Maranda insisted that the verbal agreement was for the exhibit to remain in the window until Dec. 9.

He also expressed frustration that the gallery has not had the opportunity to speak to those who were uncomfortable with the content of the exhibit.

“There’s always a certain amount of discomfort with contemporary art in the general public. Usually how that would be dealt with in the gallery is by trying to have a conversation with people who feel offended by the work . . . . which wasn’t possible in this case, not knowing who was making the complaints,” she said.

According to Glassman, the front window should be used to display bookstore promotions and merchandise, but he “would love to continue working with the art gallery if we can clear up misunderstandings.”