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Naked Guy Joins Naked Gal in Village Gallery Window
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 12, 2010
Modified Mar 12, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 12, 2010
Modified Mar 12, 2010
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You may recall that last month an exhibit at a small West Village gallery was shut down by the NYPD because the show featured a nude woman standing in the gallery window. (She was holding a jar of human testicles, by the way, but more on that later.) The NYCLU and famed civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby rallied to the gallery's defense, arguing that a state law on public nudity has an exception for "the breast-feeding of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition, show or entertainment." In a surprise move, the NYPD agreed, and declared that the model, Megan Hanford, is an integral part of the artwork, and there's nothing lewd or indecent about it. Emboldened, the gallery is now kicking it up a notch!
Yesterday the artist, Brian Reed, joined Hanford in the window of the Chair and the Maiden gallery. (The jar of testicles was set aside, since they were no longer necessary to "balance the female energy.") Curator David Zell tells us that Reed had been getting a lot of hate mail accusing him of objectifying women, with some critics wondering why he wasn't up there exposing himself. So he decided to do just that (and he'll be back next Thursday, in case you missed it). We asked Zell about those who object to the exhibit, particularly families who say they have no warning about what they're about to walk past, and no choice about keeping it from their children. He said:
Choice goes both ways. They have a choice to not walk by and not look in. I'm on a small street; it's not a main boulevard. And once could argue that the state of New York is infringing on my choice if we were prohibited from displaying this. Everyone has to have choice in order for it to be balanced.
And let's face it, it's not about children, it's about their parents. Why do they want to make a child ashamed of the human body, and suggest that it's dirty to look at? We actually have many families who stop and look and have a conversation about it. Children should not be ashamed of nudity; it's an education issue.
But what about the testicles?! Zell says they actually belong to Hanford, who played a significant role in creating the show. They were once attached to an old roommate who underwent a sex change operation, and he mailed them to her as a gift. So now you know. The whole ballsy exhibit ends March 21st, and the live performance will return Thursday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Tagged
chair and the maiden
exhibit
gallery
greenwich village
nudity
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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