After several Sally Mann photographs were removed from a show at Texas’s Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth amid controversy, the institution has finally responded, issuing a brief statement that confirmed that an investigation was taking place.
The Mann photographs were removed after some locals and politicians claimed that these images were “child porn.” The Dallas Examiner, which published several articles reporting on locals’ concerns, previously reported that there was a police investigation surrounding the works as evidence for alleged child abuse, but the museum had not responded to inquiries about it until now.
Mann has regularly faced controversy over her depictions of children. She became known for photographing her home in the Virginian city of Lexington, Virginia; some of her shots have featured her own children in the nude. These photographs do not depict sexual activity.
“An inquiry has been made concerning four artworks in the temporary exhibition Diaries of Home. These have been widely published and exhibited for more than 30 years in leading cultural institutions across the country and around the world,” a spokesperson for the Museum of Modern Art of Fort Worth told ARTnews in an email. The spokesperson said the museum was unable to comment further, due to a continuing police investigation.
“Diaries of Home” features the work of 13 women and nonbinary artists who, according to the museum’s website, “explore the multilayered concepts of family, community, and home.” The website includes a warning that the show features “mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.” Glasstire reported news of the removal of five Mann works and their accompanying wall texts this week.
While the works raised furor locally, not everyone has approved of the photographs’ removal. The National Coalition Against Censorship issued a statement on Friday condemning the police seizure.
“The allegation that these works are child sexual abuse material is not just disingenuous, it is deeply dangerous to the freedom of the millions of Americans who wish to document the growth of their own children without the threat of government prosecution,” the organization said. “Furthermore, it assumes the perspective of the pedophile, and degrades the seriousness of real incidents of child abuse.”
The statement continued, “Such a seizure and investigation can only contribute to the perverse and troubling perception that all images of naked children are inherently sexual, thereby reinforcing the very sexualization of children that critics purport to oppose.”
The National Coalition Against Censorship is calling on Texas leaders to stop the investigation and return Mann’s work to the museum exhibition.
