A mother has lashed out at the Art Gallery of South Australia over a graphic installation she says children should be “protected” from viewing.
Sarah Game, a One Nation MP in South Australia, shared several photos of the artworks, which include a naked man with female genitalia smoking a cigar and a monkey breastfeeding a human baby.
The enormous works of art are in a room full of ‘radical classical’ art, including traditional paintings on the walls behind them.
Directly behind one of the sculptures is a painting of the baby Jesus and Mary.
“I support freedom of speech, but I believe parents have the right to protect the moral and ethical education of their children,” Ms. Game said.
“I used to love taking my kids to the Art Gallery of South Australia, but after seeing these photos from a concerned voter, I won’t be going back anytime soon.”
The enormous works of art are in a room full of ‘radical classical’ art, including traditional paintings on the walls behind them
The artist behind the monkey work, titled ‘Big Mother’, is known for her unusual mediums and themes, often depicting ‘future dystopias’.
Ms Game calls for the artworks to be “placed in an adult space” if they “should stay” at all.
She hopes they will be removed from the gallery completely after complaints from locals.
a Change.org petition has been launched to ‘ensure our children’s environments remain appropriate and family-friendly’.
Concerned parents have now told Ms Game that their children have already seen the footage.
A mother said her 14-year-old daughter came home from a school field trip and talked about “the monkey with the big open butthole.”
Another described the two works as ‘confrontational and grotesque’.
‘Perhaps tolerated in an adult-oriented gallery, but not in a gallery frequented by families and schools.’
Ms Game calls for the artworks to be ‘placed in an adult space’ if they ‘should stay’ at all
Another critic said it led to unwanted conversations with their seven-year-old nephew after he asked “why the bronze statue of a man has a vagina.”
“I shouldn’t have that conversation when he goes to the art gallery,” they said.
The artist behind the monkey work, titled ‘Big Mother’, is known for her unusual mediums and themes, often depicting ‘future dystopias’.
Patricia Piccinini spent the first three years of her life in Sierra Leone and later said of Big Mother, “If you’ve ever lived in Africa, you always have a lot of stories.”
She remembered hearing from a friend that their sister had been “kidnapped by a grieving baboon.”
‘To me, this story tells us that despite the sadness and pain of losing a child, the differences between different species are not that important. “We have more in common in the love of children than we do genetically – and even then the genetic differences are actually quite small,” she said.
The other work, ‘Buck With Cigar’, was created by British artist Mark Quinn and is part of a series of works showing a man who has undergone plastic surgery to give himself female genitalia.
She was also inspired by her own difficulties breastfeeding her son, and subsequently learned how to feed him by breastfeeding her sister’s baby.
“It was really interesting how strange and unusual it is for a mother to breastfeed someone else’s baby,” she said.
‘Even stranger, perhaps, is how much more comfortable we are drinking the breast milk of another animal – say, a cow – than that of another human being.’
The work is 175 cm high and is made of fiberglass, leather, silicone and real human hair.
The other work, ‘Buck With Cigar’, was created by British artist Mark Quinn and is part of a series of works depicting a man who has undergone plastic surgery to give himself female genitalia.
Some of his works that are not included in the gallery, but are part of the same series, are even more controversial, featuring a woman with male genitalia engaged in sexual acts.
A spokesperson for the Art Gallery of South Australia said: ‘We strive to create experiences that engage and reflect the diversity of today’s society and that are inclusive of our audiences and artists, whose voices are at the forefront of what we do at AGSA.
‘We proudly and innovatively present works of art to the Australian public and to international visitors. Our exhibition and collection presentations aim to inspire and educate.
‘Art at AGSA is curated to spark conversation and debate, and can sometimes be controversial. It is the role of artists and galleries like AGSA to encourage viewers to see the world, culture and politics from different perspectives.”
‘AGSA is a proud melting pot of artistic, cultural and intellectual views. We recognize that art is often the best platform for having challenging conversations.’
‘We at AGSA firmly support the rights of artists. We also believe in preserving and celebrating diverse cultural expressions, and would not withdraw a work from the public.’
‘The Gallery does not consider the sculptures Buck with Cigar by the British artist Marc Quinn and Big Mother by the Australian artist Patricia Piccinini unsuitable for viewing by children.
‘We prepare our visitors, including school groups, and encourage prior visits from teachers and educators. If necessary, we provide sensory, cultural and content warnings.”