Miriam Cahn's work Fuck Abstraction is accused – out of context – of child pornography. Exhibited since February 17 at the Palais de Tokyo, this work by the Swiss artist represents a person with their hands tied, forced to perform oral sex. For some, such as the association Juristes pour l'Enfance, it is a child.
The painting is the subject of an online petition calling for its removal and has so far garnered some 8 signatures. “They are not children. This painting deals with the way in which sexuality is used as a weapon of war, as a crime against humanity”, according to the artist quoted in a press release from the Parisian museum.
We visited the exhibition last month, and a warning to the public is announced before entering this room which presents nudity, sexual and violent scenes. It seems quite clear, reading the labels and legends, that the artist represented here adults guilty and victims of war crimes.
The smallness of the character expresses his submission, his body emaciated by the war, in front of a tall and muscular executioner. But since art is free to interpret, everyone projects onto it what they want to see. On March 7, the Palais de Tokyo said it was “aware” that the artist's artistic approach can “generate misunderstandings” and announced that it would strengthen its mediation system. The painting should remain on display, and that's good, because it fits into a museographic story, and it is important to see it to have a better overall understanding of this room and the other works exhibited alongside it.
https://www.konbini.com/popculture/pour ... polemique/