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Artist Tom Cook, left and Fiona Chapelle with Viagra by
mannikin sculptor Len Gifford |
Valentine's show proves too raunchy for landlord
Gallery defies call to ditch mock
brothel and bring back still lifes
A VALENTINE’S Day art exhibition staged in Bloomsbury
to raise money for Aids victims has been told to close by landlords
who say it is too raunchy.
The Valentine-s-ex exhibition at Gallery Nine in Sicilian Avenue
is billed as “an exploration of the juxtaposition between
prostitution, pornography, sex and sexual assault”.
It features a display of 1980s’ telephone box calling cards
by artist Tom Cook, a painting of a virgin inside the female
genitalia, a gagged judge manikin with a roll of money tied
around his genitals – on sale for £3,500 – and
a bed titled The Ride.
The show, which is raising money for HIV charity the Terrence
Higgins Trust, has angered landlord Holborn Links.
It posted a note on the gallery’s door calling for the
return of an earlier exhibition of still lifes, Paintings for
Aunty.
But gallery owner Fiona Chapelle is determined the show will
go on despite the landlord’s warning. She said: “I
spoke to the landlord and told him: ‘You’ve got a
bloody cheek’. There’s no court in the land that would
see an injunction issued.”
Ms Chapelle, who was left seriously injured after a fall four
years ago and has no feeling in her hands or feet, opened Gallery
Nine in September last year to help her get her life back on
track.
Visitors to the exhibition are invited to have their photograph
taken in either a mock 1970s Soho brothel or the ‘French
tart’s boudoir’.
Ms Chapelle, who lives opposite the British Museum, said: “We
have a disclaimer preventing anyone doing anything on the bed
except from having their photo taken.”
She claimed Holborn Links made the decision to ask her to close
before seeing what was in the exhibition, which runs until March
10.
Ms Chapelle added: “They thought we were having live sex
shows. They couldn’t have had complaints or known what
was inside because we had the windows papered up while we installed
the exhibition.”
A solicitor’s letter on the gallery’s door says that
its lease permits it to be used “as a gallery for the sale
of fine art and sculpture”.
It adds that, as the current exhibition does not fall within
this remit, the gallery is in breach of its lease.
Ms Chapelle said she meant no harm and was merely offering an
alternative to Valentine’s Day.
She said: “Who wants more cupids? This is a serious exhibition.
We are looking at the idea of political prostitution and the
art of seduction.”
Manager of neighbouring Saffron Café, MJ Jahami, thought
the exhibition inappropriate. He said: “There’s no
problem if it’s private. But this is a family area and
these images should not be on show. This is not the right place
for them.”
Solicitor Nigel Watson, acting on behalf of Holborn Links, said
his client was unwilling to comment. |
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