In the end, it was just too kinky for the Louvre.
The world’s most-visited museum shied away from displaying a sculpture that some have labeled as too sexually explicit, but the nearby Centre Georges Pompidou on Tuesday decided the world needed to decide for itself.
Standing 12m tall, Domestikator, a creation by Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout, was originally expected to stand in the 13th century Tuileries Gardens adjacent to the Louvre in Paris as part of a contemporary art fair this month.
Photo: Reuters
However, the geometric sculpture, showing a red human figure appearing to penetrate a four-legged creature, was perhaps just a little too imposing for the home of French art.
“I was surprised, first of all, and then of course disappointed, because it couldn’t show the artwork,” Van Lieshout told reporters, adding that he had never intended to elicit a sexual interpretation.
Local media said the Louvre had made its decision after a barrage of negativity on social media and fears that it would not be received in such a public place.
The piece, made of steel, wood and fiberglass, is now on show in the esplanade outside the high-tech architectural building of the Centre Georges Pompidou.
“Obscene, pornographic? Well, obscenity is everywhere, pornography, sadly, is everywhere, certainly not in this work of art,” Centre Georges Pompidou director Bernard Blistene said. “This work of art is funny, it is an obvious nod to the relationship of abstraction and figurative painting that coexist in Dutch art in the 20th century. Spiritual yes, obscene no.”
Already displayed for three years in Bochum, Germany, the sculpture had not courted any controversy until now.
Van Lieshout insisted that his work defined the domestication of animals by humans for agriculture and industry, as well as highlighting the ethical issues surrounding that.
“I don’t think it’s very sexually explicit. I mean, I don’t know what I can do to make it less sexually explicit,” he said.
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