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A controversial piece of artwork featuring a naked woman and a dead pig
shown in Penzance last week has hit the headlines all the world. The
Newlyn Art Gallery found itself at the centre of the storm in
newspapers in the UK, and across the globe, after booking artist Kira
O'Reilly to show Inthewrongplaceness on Friday.
The four-hour performance was part of the gallery's Tract, live art programme and was seen by visitors one at a time.
But
ahead of Friday's event the tabloid press in this country splashed the
story, labelling the installation 'sick' and quoting animal rights
groups opposed to it.
James Green, director of Newlyn Art
Gallery, defended the work, he said: "It has been shown before and has
not caused any problems.
"It is always good to debate, but it is
better to have an informed debate based on seeing the work rather than
discussing what it might consist of."
Although only 25 people
saw Friday's show, millions all over the world read about it when the
story was picked up by papers in places as far afield as Malaysia,
Canada, India and New Zealand.
As well as national newspapers in
the UK, the China Daily along with more than 50 newspapers in the US
including the Washington Post and The New York Times also covered the
story.
The Tract website was also proof of the massive interest generated in the local gallery.
James
Green explained: "Last week there were about 16 hits a day on the
website. Over the weekend that went up to 10,000, but I hope that
people will have had the opportunity to see the wider spectrum of work
we are doing here.
"I think there were some good things about
people across the county and internationally getting to hear about the
gallery, but my concern is that while the wider publicity is positive,
for the local audience who have not previously engaged with the
gallery, it may have enforced their worst suspicions."
According
to Mr Green, the viewing went ahead without incident at a former social
club in Bread Street; there had been fears that animal rights
campaigners may have organised a protest.
Mr Green said: "The
descriptions we got were that it was very moving and intense; it was
certainly not intended to be sensational.
"The irony with the animal rights criticisms in the press were that many of those issues are central to Kira's work.
"We
haven't had a single complaint made directly to the to the gallery, but
over the weekend we had one phone call and three letters from people in
other parts of the country."
The Newlyn Art Gallery is currently
engaged in a major redevelopment programme which will see the extension
of its premises on Newlyn Green and the creation of contemporary
gallery space in the old Telephone Exchange building off Market Jew
Street.
With both projects due to open in May, Mr Green said
that Kira O'Reilly's work was part of the Tract project to make use of
venues in Penzance and Newlyn until the gallery had a formal space once
again.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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