Artist Sean Newman reported via a comment on this blog that his exhibit Erotic Beauties was attacked and desecrated on both Saturday and Sunday Easter weekend possibly by someone who felt “challenged” by the exhibits gay content.
This exhibit was attacked over Easter Sunday in an apparent rejection of the show’s content, which includes photographs of transgender women and gay men.
The Seattle Times reports that the gallery’s front window, which displayed three photos from the show, was smeared with feces on Saturday while the gallery was open. On Sunday a metal utility cover was thrown through the glass window.
Marita Holdaway, curator of Benham Gallery, said in a press release, “We believe our window was smashed by a person who was challenged by the content of this exhibition. The subjects of these artworks have experienced enough of this kind of cowardliness and violence. We are happy to discuss our curatorial decisions with anyone who wishes to talk with us instead of experiencing this kind of behavior.”
The “Erotic Beauty” exhibition is on display at the Benham Gallery thru April 12. The gallery is open Wed – Sat from 11 AM – 6 PM. On “First Thursdays Art Walk” the gallery remains open until 8 PM.
No photographs were damaged in the attack.
–Sean
Now the violence has escalated to the art galleries in an ultimate act of “cowardliness.”
More information about the attack is available at the Seattle Times:
The subjects of the photos have a difficult time living their lives, Holdaway said. “This is discouraging that someone would feel this angry.”
According to Seattle police, there are no suspects and no estimate of loss.
Individuals with information are encouraged to contact the Seattle Police so we can go ahead smear feces on those responsible.
I forgot to mention the names of the other photographers in the show.
Fiona Aboud (NYC),
Paul Dalquist (Portland), and
David Steinberg (San Francisco)
–Sean