Gordon Photos
- Artist/Author/Producer: Gordon, Lee
- Confronting Bodies: Institute of Contemporary Art
- Dates of Action: 1984
- Location: Boston, MA
- Description of Artwork
- Ten 8x10 sexually explicit paintings from the "Friendly Neighbors" series depicting gay and
lesbian couples
- Description of incident
- Bill Olander (d.1988) of The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin, included
ten 8x10 "sexually explicit paintings of mine, from the "Friendly Neighbors"
series, for his show "Drawing after Photography". It soon evolved that the show
was to travel throughout the year, organized by the ICA. When Bill came to my
studio to select the specific paintings from the series (aprox. 100) we decided
to show some of the very strongest of the images, with several gay and lesbian
couplings included. Several weeks before the show was to open, after the work
had gone to Oberlin, I got a long apologetic letter from Bill, followed by an
even longer telephone call explaining that the board of ICA, upon receipt of the
images, flipped.
They wanted them out of the exhibition.
A flurry of phone calls ensued between myself, Richard Flood -at the time the
director of my sort-of gallery Protech-McNeil- Bill and the director of the ICA
Susan somebody.
- Results of incident
- It was decided that the work would open in Oberlin, and then not travel
through the country to other exhibitions, and images of the work were not
included in the show catalogue.
Source: Gordon, Lee
Record no 2
