When I was a child, we had a puzzle that was up on the shelf in our living room; it was a Peanuts and the Gang puzzle and on the side of the box it said ~Peanuts~… Every time I would see it I would think ~ penis~ and it would make me giggle. I was a child, I thought childish things. I did not grow up in a home that had a body positive culture but even I knew what a penis was even if it was more likely to be called by any one of the various slang names our culture has for this particular piece of male anatomy.
Fast forward 40+ years and I am practically a professor of penises, or at least an ardent admirer let alone the mother of 5 boys so I have indeed also done my fair share of diaper-duty.
Penises are here to stay my friend (unless of course you don’t fancy to have one anymore; I wholly support that as well, but it is another post all together!) so we best get used to the fact that they are all around us… with the stunning exception of not being on Kathy Nida’s quilt .
If you are at all a part of the online quilt scene, you might be watching in rapt anticipation the next move in the whole kerfuffle that has resulted in AQS Quilt show pulling the two quilted SAQA exhibit pieces by the artist Kathy Nida. For the whole back story and some amazing photos of her quilts I suggest reading this post by the artist herself. .
I am going to be the first to say that AQS has every right to show the pieces they want and reject the rest. The show is their sandbox so they set the rules there. Trouble being that in this case they accepted the quilt as part of the SAQA exhibit within the AQS show and then pulled it due to a single woman voicing objection saying that she “thought” there was a penis depicted in the quilt.
The rally cries from the dark are hinged on the topic of censorship but I would suggest that the issue is bigger and much further reaching than a quilt show being willing to pull down the work of an established artist based solely on the pearl clutching of one woman in GrandRapids.
Before we go much further I need to make it clear that I am rather wild about men. I mean I have gone so far as to tell you that I have more than a passing fancy for the male form so while I am doing my best to talk about the institution of patriarchy I also want to give due to the bunches of amazing men in my life, including my husband and my own sons. You guys Rock!!
This topic is big… like really big, and if you want to get all Nancy Drew about it start by Googling about the supression of art done by women through the ages. Honestly it is amazing knowing what we know that Whistler’s Mother was not renamed Whistler’s Father since far greater works have been co-oped, suppressed or erased through history by groups of men who appointed themselves judge, jury, and purse string holder and found women’s art unsuitable for reasons ranging from their own discomfort to strictly economic.
In the case of AQS, dollars and a chicken-shit tolerance for even the least bit of controversy are my bets for the reasons that they quilts came down. This indicates certain lack of backbone or desire to further the work of artists who in this case are most often women. (Yes, believe me I know men quilt. Remember, I LOVE me some men!)
In this case men (institutional and patriarchal) not supporting women/artists since it does not improve their pocketbook in the least to do so. In this case it was a quilt with no penis, but maybe next time it is a quilt that shows the love between two people of the same sex or covers the topic of rape or celebrates the freedom to marry or birth or death.
Yes this penis or lack thereof was just the tip of the iceberg (yeah I went there).
This topic is an onion of many layers each, when peeled, back brings forth another layer that stings the eyes, assaults the nose and in the end hurts my freedom art loving heart. Each of us has a choice about how we will react.
We are opening SPOOL as a September Venue for both of Kathy’s quilts that were removed from further showing at AQS venues along with many Rocky Horror entries that should start coming in any day now. Feel free to come see them during AQS week in Chattanooga.
As for you, if you support the right to free artistic expression (with or without genitals) let your voice be heard. Support events that artistically embrace the edgy sometimes messy parts of life. Put your money where your mouth is by supporting all artists who are pushing the boundaries and expanding our world with their art. But most off all… continue to be BadAss in all you do.
I support Kathy and her fantastic art. AQS has no spine. That person should have been told 1 there is NO penis 2 this is art by a respected artist and it will remain . I cancelled my membership years ago and I have now cancelled their online newsletter and will do nothing to support them.
Maddie I grew up in the time of censorship and the word penis was never spoken in my presence. Boy did that change {VBG} when I got out on my own, but that is another story altogether. I am completely in support of the BAD ASS Quilters, and will continue to do so. IF I was in the area I would come by your shop and support the Non-penis quit.
When my son was growing up we used anatomically correct names for body parts, but when he went to kindergarten, he come home and proclaimed “Mommy I did not know I had a peepee??” Oh well…
Excellent response to this utterly stupid reaction by AQS, Maddie. You said it well! I am quite frankly stunned that they removed a quilt that had been juried into the show & had already been hung in multiple AQS shows before this incident. The “professional”
response to one complaining viewer was not given in this case. It’s an art quilt. And there was no penis in it. Shame on you, AQS, for a really bad response.
This crap is depressing. These loathsome creatures have plagued the creative ones since forever. I must say that I never heard the term “pearl clutcher” but it’s PERFECT (my love of pearls notwithstanding). In my mind they are called “Lemon Suckers” but I think I’ve found a new favorite description.
I am offended that they took the quilts out of the show – so My “almighty dollars” will not give any support to AQS.
The pearl clutching lady should be glad I wasn’t there. I would have suggested that she go get laid with the lights on so she knows what one actually looks like.
OMG. That’s hilarious. I just choked on my coffee. Thank you!! 🙂
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee, or I would have choked on it too.
This is not the first time AQS has not allowed “questionable” quilts. In the early 1990’s they refused to show a Day of the Dead quilt by Jonathan Shannon as they they thought it might upset their viewers.
http://www.pbs.org/americaquilts/century/stories/jonathan_shannon.html
That’s the first thing I thought of also. I believe it was in 1993 that Jonathon Shannon’s quilt was juried out of the AQS show. I’m thinking the quilt was called “Dead Friends.” And to the AQS it carried connotations of homosexuality, AIDS, and all those scary things. I was lucky enough to see the quilt at the British Patchwork Champtionships that year or the following year. If nothing else, the AQS’s stance caused the quilt to be seen in more venues and to get more publicity that might have otherwise happened.
“Amigos Muertos” didn’t “carry connotations of homosexuality and AIDS”…it was, in fact, a tribute to Jonathan’s friends who had died of AIDS. It was a wonderful work and was later included in the list of the 100 most important quilts of the century (as was his winner from the 1993 AQS show, “Air Show”). It was the following year, 1994 when his quilt was in the AQS show…and then not shown because it might offend someone.
I am glad you got to see it. I was able to see both….his work really is wonderful.
Speaking as both a quilter, and the proud owner of a penis I want to thank you for such a well thought out and reasoned response. It’s encouraging to see that there are thousands and thousands of other BadAss quilters who choose to live in this millennium. I look forward to meeting y’all at a show sometime soon.
was the quilt removed after it was displayed, or juried out prior to the show selections? isn’t this the same group that objected to “BAd Ass Quilter”? CAn’t wait to visit your excellent shop and view this work.
Hi Nancy, It was actually in quite a few other AQS shows before the pearl-clutcher said she was offended.
In other words, it was juried in and displayed. While it was up in its location (with, incidentally, a giant vulva quilt beside it), somebody was offended because she saw a penis in it, the way you do sometimes, like with a Rohrshack test, even when there’s no penis at all. Rather than, say, examining the quilt and replying, “That’s not a penis; it’s an umbilical cord” or, alternately, not examining the quilt and saying, “The quilt has been juried in; we’re not taking it down,” the response was to remove the quilt, indicating to me that the organization considers quilts to be a quaint, outdated craft form rather than the dynamic art form they’ve become in recent decades.
It wasn’t juried into AQS. It was juried in to the SAQA exhibit which was then accepted by AQS to travel with the “Quilt Week” shows as has been done for several years (I usually work the exhibit in GR but was out of the country this year).
Regardless, the agreement was AQS had the right to reject any piece PRIOR to them being hung the first time. They accepted the exhibit as it had been curated. To then take it down, when it’s exhibited separately from the AQS quilts AND other exhibits is totally unacceptable.
Three cheers for Maddy for 1) exhibiting Kathy’s work in Chattanooga and 2) for sponsoring the show “The Skin We Are In.”