POP LIFE AND THE RICHARD PRINCE CONTROVERSY

In a much-publicized move, the curators took a suggestion from Scotland Yard and removed a work by American artist Richard Prince, which was a re-working of an image of Brooke Shields taken when she was 10.The fact that Prince "borrowed" from an existing image by another photographer, who was commissioned by Shields' mother for publicity purposes, then re-worked it to create a specific response from someone looking at it, was the whole point of the piece. But bloggers went nuts, labelling Prince a pornographer and pedophile. What this says about public controversy is beautifully explored in the exhibition: We're immune to magazine ads that feature oily, naked, underage models, and Hollywood uses sex to sell tickets. But throw an image of a naked babe or an erect penis onto a wall in a national museum, and everyone gets sweaty and wants to call the cops.

National Post
Jan 15 2009