A BEECHWORTH artist has withdrawn from a retrospective exhibition of his work at Arts Space Wodonga next year, incensed that council staff questioned the inclusion of a reclining nude and a collage addressing the Catholic Church’s ban on condoms.
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Alan Phillips said in a career spanning more 40 years and more than 30 exhibitions he had never had a situation where his work had been scrutinised with a view to censorship.
“I am quite aggrieved,” Mr Phillips said.
“I spent a lot of money and I spent a lot of time on this exhibition to the detriment of my other work.
“I see this as an anti-intellectual thrust.
“What they have done to me is dismissed me as not knowing what I am doing.”
But Wodonga Council manager of cultural events and youth services Simone Hogg said no decision had been made by the council.
Instead, she said there had been ongoing conversation between Mr Phillips and the curator as to the value of individual works.
“As per all exhibitions at Arts Space Wodonga, the curator maintains control of the exhibition,” Ms Hogg said.
“It is not just about individual works but about how they hang together.
“We don’t shy away from sensitive material but there are two things we consider — how the exhibition hangs in its entirety and the implications of it hanging in a space that adjoins the library that is used by children.”
Mr Phillips said his reclining nude was a picture of a woman lying on a couch seen from the back and his work included no sexual images that would not appear on television news programs.
In response to an initial invitation from the gallery, he had been preparing the exhibition for more than a year, a retrospective of his photographs, diary entries and collages over the past 40 years.
“Much of the work hinged around the social realism theme, an influence that has been a major force in my work,” he said.
“The diary entries and collages range from the past 30 years and reflect on events and news items relevant to the times.
“Some of the topics are French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, the Bosnia war and abuse of children by the clergy.
Mr Phillips said he had decided to withdraw his exhibition, which had been due to open on February 10, taking the view that “if it was one out, it was all out”.
Ms Hogg said while it was unfortunate Mr Phillips had taken the decision to withdraw, that was “entirely his choice”.
