A Dutch artist decided to remove his art exhibition from Purmerend’s town hall last Friday, following public criticism due to (shock and horror!) breasts in some of his artwork.
The municipality initially only wanted to remove some of the offending artworks, reports RTL Nieuws, but the artist decided to take them all down in protest.
Keep “abreast” of the issue
Jeroen Hermkens, an Utrecht-based artist, created 14 lithographs and four drawings depicting breasts.
These were for an art exhibition titled “proud women from Beemster”, to celebrate a municipal merger between the towns of Beemster and Purmerend. On display since November 7, Hermkens’ pieces were to hang in the town hall till December 10.
However, the breasts on display apparently ruffled more than a few feathers, with visitors to the town hall finding the drawings and lithographs offensive.
Has political correctness gone too far?
Hermkens’ answer to RTL Nieuws was a definitive yes.
The artworks had already been on display earlier this year, at a special exhibition called “Ode aan de Beemstervrouw” (Ode to the Beemster woman), with no ensuing hysterics.
The artist also noted that the municipality’s decisions about which artworks to remove were arbitrary.
As such, he decided to remove all of his art pieces himself, rather than have them removed for him.
What do you think of the removal of these drawings and lithographs? Tell us all about it in the comments below!