Erotic works by James Bidgood were not among those removed from “The Male Gaze.”

Earlier this week, I blogged about “The Male Gaze,” an exhibit of photos and other works by queer artists like Ryan McGinley and Jack Pierson, which is now on display at Dumbo’s powerHouse Arena.

In short: Last weekend, when the BKLYN Designs expo was held in nearby St. Ann’s Warehouse, seven works were removed from display because they were considered inappropriate for young BKLYN Designs visitors who might stop by powerHouse. The works were put back on display Monday, May 14. That much is agreed up. What’s debatable is who gave the order to take the works down.

Responding to an earlier inquiry, a publicist for BKLYN Designs indicated the gallery offered to take the pieces down and the expo “took them up on their offer.”

Daniel Power, owner of powerHouse Arena, recalls things differently—he claims the producer of BKLYN Designs specifically asked him to remove graphic works. And he’s got an e-mail to back up his side of the story.

From: karen auster
Date: Fri, 04 May 2007 06:15:33 -0400
To: REDACTED
Subject: Graphic Pictures…

Dear REDACTED

I hate to be a conservative freak but……

We are promoting the off-site at powerhouse in all of our materials and the
BROOKLYN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE has to be careful what they promote.

Could you please please remove any graphic photographs at your exhibit
during BKLYN DESIGNS (11-13th).

My apologies for asking, I am all about artistic freedom, but I have to
watch out for the presenting organization–I don’t want the press to have a
field day which would in turn jeopardize the show for next year.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!!
Karen

Kind of hard to refute that—though we should point out there’s no mention of specific works Auster wanted removed. Guess she left the “artistic” decisions up to the gallery. (Many of the pieces that were left on display would be considered risqué to puritanical types.) When asked to comment, Auster (head of Auster Events) simply requested that her e-mail not be made public.

Someone who was willing to comment was Brian Kenny, who satirizes macho culture with his edgy, often erotic drawings and photography, and who was one of three artists whose work was taken down last weekend. Below is his taken on the situation, sent to me in an e-mail earlier today:

This is all a surprise to me. I had no idea that my work was being censored (for any reason). I always find situations like this very frustrating. First of all, they were simply drawings, and second, there was no depiction of a sexual act. Third, they were DRAWINGS!!

I loathe censorship, it’s always the most interesting and creative things in life that some people wish to censor for everyone. In America, I hate this prevailing attitude that sex and nudity in any visual genre is wrong, and should be removed to protect children etc, however you can watch any prime time TV channel and see extraordinary violence and gore (a nasty double standard). In Berlin, you see all kinds of naked people lying around in the sun, some of them old men with cock rings and half hard-ons, and people there don’t mind, they realize that sexuality isn’t going to ruin you or the public moral character.

Best regards,
Brian

There you have it. We’ll revisit the story as more information surfaces. In the meantime, head over to powerHouse and check out “The Male Gaze” for yourself. The show—all of it, we assume—is up through Sunday, May 27.