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CHICAGO READER, January 20, 1989.
THE STRAIGHT DOPE
Letters
Subtlety Will Get You Nowhere
To the editors:
Is censorship fashionable? It certainly seems as though it's becoming
quite the trend in Chicago. Not only that, it seems the Reader feels that
what people are wearing is more important than an issue as serious as censorship.
I am writing about your article in Our Town titled "Beyond Boundaries"
by Lynda Gorov, Dec. 23. Not once in her article did she mention the word
censorship, repression or suppression, nor did she mention the First Amendment.
Too bad it took her the entire article to allude to the homophobia of the
irate yuppies who could not deal with an image of two men hugging.
The Reader missed the opportunity to address the complexities of this
issue. The people living in the building do have a right to privacy, but
it's a little late to exercise that right after they had given the curators
sole control of the content of the show. One tenant apparently called the
Ziolkowski work pornography. The legal tests for pornography are that the
work must portray sex in a patently offensive manner and have no serious
artistic value. Ziolkowski's work would pass both of the tests.
Instead of making a fashion show out of serious issues, newspapers whould
be the first to speak out for free speach. You are the first to go out
of business if these rights are lost. When artists are forced to pander
to public taste, the only thing left on the walls will be red barn paintings
and fig leaves. Then, the only material Gorov will have to write about
will be polyester.
Diane Grams
Co-chair
Committee for Artist's Rights
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