I WAS shocked to read that a publicly owned exhibition space in Winchester has banned nude art.
Hampshire Cultural Trust says its City Space in the Arc is a ‘family friendly venue… which welcomes all ages and faiths’ and therefore shouldn’t display ‘offensive or sensitive content’. No wonder Winchester Art Club are angry. HCT, which is responsible for many of our galleries and museums, should be defending art not censoring it. Putting aside the questionable assumption that images of naked people are automatically offensive, nude painting, drawing and sculpture are fundamental to the visual arts. Public spaces throughout the world display work in which artists have explored the naked human body, both its beauty and its vulnerability.
What next? Does Hampshire Cultural Trust think Elizabeth Frink’s naked horseman in the High Street should be removed in case it offends a passerby?
Paul Lewis,
Sutton Park Road,
Sutton Scotney
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